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It is secreted heavily in pulses in between these events. Prolactin plays an essential role in metabolism, regulation of the immune system and pancreatic development. [6] [7] Discovered in non-human animals around 1930 by Oscar Riddle [8] and confirmed in humans in 1970 by Henry Friesen, [9] prolactin is a peptide hormone, encoded by the PRL ...
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 ...
It is the receptor for prolactin (PRL). The PRLR can also bind to and be activated by growth hormone (GH) and human placental lactogen (hPL). The PRLR is expressed in the mammary glands, pituitary gland, and other tissues. It plays an important role in lobuloalveolar development of the mammary glands during pregnancy and in lactation.
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 ...
Prolactin and glucorticoides are chemicals that also play a role in the initiation of maternal behavior in both birds and mammals. Prolactin is involved in the interactions between a mother and their offspring, while glucorticoides are released when the mother is expending energy and resources causing her to work harder in order to properly ...
However, the relative affinities of hPL and prolactin for the human prolactin receptor have yet to be published and the effects of hPL on normal human mammary epithelial tissue have not yet been investigated, and so a definitive role of hPL in human mammary gland development during pregnancy has not been established at present. [6]
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 ...