Fifty Years to Bromocriptine

Abstract

The ergot alkaloid 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine and its effect on lactation in rats were first described by E. Flückiger and H.R. Wagner in the journal Experientia (1968, no. 24). At first, this work did not attract much attention, but after isolating pure prolactin and establishing its physiological role, the high effectiveness of bromocriptine in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia soon became clear. Bromocriptine was actively studied not only by Western scientists but also in the Soviet Union beginning in 1975. The drug was used against persistent lactorrhea and amenorrhea, as well as acromegaly syndrome, and was also experimentally prescribed for Itsenko–Cushing’s disease. It was in Russia that unique data were collected on children of mothers with hyperprolactinemia who received bromocriptine therapy. Bromocriptine made an enormous contribution to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, for which it has been used since the 1960s. In 2009, low-dose bromocriptine was approved for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Currently, studies are continuing on the effect of this drug on various metabolic pathways (for example, gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis, etc.). Even 50 years after the discovery of bromocriptine, not all of its effects have been well studied, and researchers and doctors are facing new questions.