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Prolactin (PRL), also known as lactotropin and mammotropin, is a protein best known for its role in enabling mammals to produce milk. It is influential in over 300 separate processes in various vertebrates, including humans. [5] Prolactin is secreted from the pituitary gland in response to eating, mating, estrogen treatment, ovulation and ...
A prolactin cell (also known as a lactotropic cell, epsilon acidophil, lactotrope, lactotroph, mammatroph, mammotroph) is a cell in the anterior pituitary which produces prolactin (a peptide hormone) in response to hormonal signals including dopamine (which is inhibitory), thyrotropin-releasing hormone and estrogen (especially during pregnancy), which are stimulatory.
During lactation, prolactin is the main factor maintaining tight junctions of the ductal epithelium and regulating milk production through osmotic balance. Human placental lactogen (HPL) – from the second month of pregnancy, the placenta releases large amounts of HPL. This hormone is closely associated with prolactin and appears to be ...
During pregnancy, the production of prolactin by the mother increases steadily, starting at 6–8 weeks of gestation and continuing until the end of the pregnancy. [32] Prolactin levels in the human fetal circulation see a gradual increase from around 30 weeks of gestation until birth. [ 32 ]
In the absence of regular, episodic suckling, which keeps prolactin concentrations high, levels of prolactin will quickly drop, the menstrual cycle will resume and hence normal estrogen and progesterone levels will return, and lactation will cease (that is, until next parturition, or until induced lactation (i.e., with a galactogogue), occurs ...
The magnitude that prolactin is elevated can be used as an indicator of the etiology of the hyperprolactinemia diagnosis. Prolactin levels over 250 ng/mL may suggest prolactinoma. Prolactin levels less than 100 ng/mL may suggest drug-induced hyperprolactinemia, macroprolactinemia, nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, or systemic disorders.
Given the demands of fetal loading during pregnancy and the importance of producing offspring to the fitness of human beings, natural selection may have had a role in selecting a unique anatomy for the lumbar region in females. There are sex differences in the lumbar vertebral column of human males and females, which ultimately helps mitigate ...
This is reflected in their physiological response to breastfeeding, where the mother's cardiac vagal tone modulation enhances, and blood pressure [1] and heart rate decreases. [4] The stress-buffering effect of breastfeeding results from the hormones oxytocin and prolactin. [3]