The quality of sexual experience in women correlates with post-orgasmic prolactin surges: results from an experimental prototype study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Sexual intercourse, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction are associated with well-being and improved quality of life. The pituitary hormone prolactin (PRL) may have an important role in regulating (and thus indexing) sexual satiety and satisfaction. AIM: Physiological indices to quantify the quality and resulting satisfaction from female orgasm would be valuable. Therefore we aim to validate associations of orgasm-induced PRL surges with women's orgasm quality and subsequent sexual satisfaction. METHODS: In a prospective study, with a pre-post, single-blinded, cross-over design in a naturalistic field setting, we analyzed the correlation of women's post-orgasmic serum PRL surges following sexual intercourse with women's perceived quality of orgasm and resulting sexual satisfaction, as measured by a questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PRL levels prior to and following penile-vaginal intercourse with and without orgasm, and scores from the Acute Sexual Experience Scale (ASES) on quality of orgasm and sexual satisfaction. RESULTS: An analysis of variance of the blood samples in nine women indicated large magnitude, significant effects of intercourse orgasm on PRL levels (P = 0.004, eta squared = 0.78), as well as an interaction with the effect of multiple orgasms (P = 0.008, eta squared = 0.80). PRL post/pre ratios and arithmetic difference correlated strongly with orgasm quality (r = 0.85, P = 0.016, and r = 0.69, P = 0.08) and sexual satisfaction (r = 0.75, P = 0.05 and r = 0.77, P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: Women's intercourse orgasm induced PRL surges are strongly related to the quality of orgasm and subsequent sexual satisfaction. This implies that post-orgasmic PRL surges are an objective index of orgasm and orgasm quality. PRL might be used in future studies on basic research as well as a treatment target in sexual disorders in women.