DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for hyperprolactinemia — screening already-approved drugs against its 8-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleHyperprolactinemia maps to a 8-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for hyperprolactinemia is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) — DRD4 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet aqddrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5WIU · 1.962 Å · ligand Nemonapride (AQD). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 2018 retrospective chart review at a single Indian specialty clinic, 16 patients (13 women, 3 men) on stable antipsychotic doses who reported sexual dysfunction or menstrual irregularities were given add-on aripiprazole. Serum prolactin was measured before starting aripiprazole and at follow-up. The paper reports a statistically significant reduction in prolactin (p = 0.004) and concludes that add-on aripiprazole could be a clinically useful strategy for antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. No concrete numbers for the magnitude of prolactin reduction, response rates, or sample sizes beyond 16 are given in the abstract.
A 2021 case report describes a 45-year-old woman with irregular menstrual cycles whose initial prolactin was 4,836 mIU/L (reference range 109–557). A repeat measurement one month later showed 1,023 mIU/L. Polyethylene glycol precipitation testing revealed macroprolactin, with a post-PEG prolactin of 111 mIU/L and only 3% recovery, confirming factitious hyperprolactinemia due to macroprolactin. The authors stress that macroprolactinemia is common in gynaecology and fertility clinics and that failure to test for it leads to misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment.
Two other abstracts provide no original data. A 2013 chapter discusses minimising diagnostic errors in physiological and pathological hyperprolactinemia. A 2020 review notes that hyperprolactinemia syndrome is the third most common neuroendocrine disorder after diabetes and thyroid disease, and discusses diagnosis according to cause.
What is still missing: prospective trials with adequate sample sizes comparing add-on aripiprazole against placebo or other strategies for antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia; standardised protocols for when and how to screen for macroprolactin before labelling a patient as having true hyperprolactinemia; and funding for studies that stratify patients by antipsychotic type, sex, and baseline prolactin level rather than relying on small retrospective chart reviews.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine · 2018 · 14 citations · open access
Add-on Aripiprazole for Atypical Antipsychotic-induced, Clinically Significant Hyperprolactinemia
AbstractBACKGROUND: Antipsychotic treatment-induced hyperprolactinemia is a highly distressing and disabling side effect for patients. The use of add-on aripiprazole has been identified as a possible treatment strategy in this situation. However, data on prolactin changes with add-on aripiprazole in a real-world naturalistic clinical setting from India are sparse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective chart review was conducted at the specialty metabolic clinic at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India. Sixteen patients (female: male = 13:3) who were on a stable dose of antipsychotic medications, complaining of either sexual dysfunction or menstrual irregularities, were prescribed add-on aripiprazole. The serum prolactin values were obtained before the initiation of aripiprazole and during the follow-up. RESULTS: = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Add-on aripiprazole could be a clinically useful strategy in patients who develop antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia.
The American Journal of Medical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Research · 2020 · 1 citations · open access
Diagnostic Aspects Of Hyperprolactinemia Syndrome
AbstractHyperprolactinemia syndrome is one of the most common neuroendocrine disorders. In the structure of endocrine pathology, it ranks third after diabetes mellitus and thyroid diseases. The article is devoted to the topical issues of diagnosing hyperprolactinemia syndrome depending on the cause of the development of this syndrome.
AbstractBACKGROUND: Macroprolactinemia is a common presentation especially in gynecology and fertility clinics. However, with this clinical condition, there is a potential for misdiagnosis and unnecessary investigations/treatments due to lack of awareness of its prevalence and diagnostic approaches amongst trainees and physicians. METHODS: In this paper, we discuss the causes of hyperprolactinemia, its pathobiology, and an approach to macro-prolactinemia including relevant clinical chemistry methods and their limitations through the case of a 45-year-old female with a history of irregular menstrual cycles, who was seen in the endocrine clinic. RESULTS: Patient did not have a history of infertility, galactorrhea, visual-disturbance, or headaches. Her physical examination and routine clinical chemistry investigations were unremarkable. Her initial prolactin level was 4,836 mIU/L (109 - 557) with subsequent results demonstrating diminishing levels of prolactin a month apart (1,023 mIU/L). Polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation test demonstrated the presence of macroprolactin with a 3% post-PEG recovery of prolactin and 111 mIU/L post-PEG prolactin concentration. CONCLUSIONS: Patient's post-PRL results and clinical course confirmed the presence of macroprolactin to be the cause of factitious hyperprolactinemia. A sound approach to macroprolactinemia is critical in clinical and laboratory practices.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
