The prolactin (PRL)-releasing effect of domperidone (DOM), a novel antidopaminergic drug which does not cross the blood-brain barrier, was investigated in normoprolactinemic subjects, in subjects with physiologic puerperal hyperprolactinemia or pathological hyperprolactinemia. DOM (4 mg i.v.), administered to 8 normoprolactinemic women, induced a clear-cut and sustained rise in plasma PRL, with peak levels occurring 15-30 min postinjection; the effect of the drug was also evident in 3 normoprolactinemic women at the dose of 0.25 mg i.v. Also in 8 puerperal women (postpartum day 2) intravenous administration of 4 mg DOM was followed by an increase in plasma PRL (51-517% of baseline levels, 15-45 min postinjection). Administration of DOM (4 mg i.v.) to 16 subjects with pathological hyperprolactinemia, evidenced the presence of 14 DOM-nonresponder (maximum percent increase of baseline PRL 48%) and 2 DOM-responder subjects. In 8 of the DOM-nonresponder subjects the existence of a pituitary tumor was established at surgery by selective removal of an adenoma (7 subjects) or a teratoma (1 subject): of the 6 subjects who did not undergo surgery, 3 had biochemical and/or radiologic evidence suggestive of a PRL-secreting tumor and 1 was acromegalic. These results indicate that DOM is capable of releasing PRL both in normoprolactinemic subjects and subjects with puerperal hyperprolactinemia. In contrast, DOM is unable to modify PRL levels in most subjects with pathological hyperprolactinemia, with proven or suspected pituitary tumors.