Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-28T08:06:34.231Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Physiology of lactation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2011

A. S. McNeilly
A. S. McNeilly
Affiliation:
MRC Unit of Reproductive Biology, 2 Forrest Road, Edinburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In adult life the human breast, unlike that of other species, is sufficiently developed to allow milk secretion to occur after only a brief period of hormonal stimulation. During pregnancy the ducts and secretory alveoli develop under the influence of both oestrogen and progesterone. Growth hormone and placental lactogen are not required; the role of prolactin in mammogenesis remains questionable. Lactogenesis, the onset of milk secretion, is inhibited during pregnancy despite high levels of prolactin, by a direct inhibitory action of steroids on the breast. The clearance of placental steroids after delivery removes this inhibition and milk secretion is initiated.

Inhibition of prolactin secretion prevents milk secretion, suggesting that prolactin is the essential hormone for lactation in man. Prolactin release occurs in response to suckling and the amount released depends on the strength and duration of the suckling process. No release of prolactin occurs in response to stimuli other than stimulation of the nipple.

Removal of milk from the mammary gland is effected by the milk-ejection reflex (MER) involving the release of oxytocin in response to suckling. Unlike prolactin, oxytocin may be released in response to stimuli associated with breast-feeding, e.g. the cry of the infant. The MER may be inhibited by psychological and physical stress, either by inhibiting oxytocin release or by preventing its action upon the breast contractile elements. The susceptibility of the MER to disturbance requires consideration when encouraging the establishment of breast-feeding.

Breast-feeding is geared directly to the needs of the infant, since not only does the suckling infant obtain its present meal by inducing oxytocin release, but also by stimulating prolactin release it orders the next (Tindal, 1972).

Type
I. Lactational infertility
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 9 , supplement S4: Fertility Regulation During Human Lactation , 1977 , pp. 5 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archer, F.L. (1968) Normal and neoplastic human tissue in organ culture. Arch. Path. 85, 62.Google ScholarPubMed
Assairi, L., Delouis, C., Gaye, P., Houdebine, L-M., Ollivier-Bousquet, M. & Denamur, R. (1974) Inhibition by progesterone of the lactogenic effect of prolactin in the pseudopregnant rabbit. Biochem. J. 144, 245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barker, B.E., Fanger, H. & Farnes, P. (1964) Human mammary slices in organ culture. I. Method of culture and preliminary observations on the effect of insulin. Expl Cell Res. 35, 437.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, C. (1958) A twenty-year follow-up of a prepubertal female castrate. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 75, 135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Besser, G.M., Parke, L., Edwards, C.R.W., Forsyth, IA. & McNeilly, A.S. (1972) Galactorrhoea: successful treatment with reduction of plasma prolactin levels by bromergocryptine. Br. med. J. 3, 267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonnar, J., Franklin, M., Nott, P.N. & McNeilly, A.S. (1975) Effect of breast-feeding on pituitary-ovarian function after childbirth. Br. med. J. 3, 82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowers, C.Y., Friesen, H.G., Hwang, P., Guyda, H. & Folkers, K. (1971) Prolactin and thyrotropin release in man by synthetic pyroglutamyl-histidyl-prolinamide. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 45, 1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruce, J.D., Cofre, X. & Ramirez, V.D. (1973) Effect of locally implanted oestrogen on the response of the rat's lactating mammary gland to oxytocin. Acta endocr., Copenh. 73, 700.Google ScholarPubMed
Ceriani, R.L., Contesso, G.P. & Nataf, B.M. (1972) Hormone requirements for growth and differentiation of the human mammary gland in organ culture. Cancer Res. 32, 2190.Google ScholarPubMed
Chard, T. (1973) The radioimmunoassay of oxytocin and vasopressin. J. Endocr. 58, 143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cobo, E., De Bernal, M.M., Gaitan, E. & Quintero, C.A. (1967) Neurohypophyseal hormone release in the human. II. Experimental study during lactation. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 97, 519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coch, J. A., Fielitz, C., Brovetto, J., Cabot, H.M., Coda, H. & Fraga, A. (1968) Estimation of an oxytocin-like substance in highly purified extracts from the blood of puerperal women during suckling. J. Endocr. 40, 137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooke, I., Foley, M., Lenton, E., Preston, E., Millar, D., Jenkins, A., Obiekwe, B., McNeilly, A.S., Parsons, J. & Kennedy, G. (1976) The treatment of puerperal lactation with bromocriptine. Postgrad, med. J. 52 (Suppl. 1), 75.Google Scholar
Cowie, A.T. & Tindal, J.S. (1972) The Physiology of Lactation, Monographs of the Physiological Society No. 22. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Cross, B.A. (1961) Neural control of lactation. In: Milk: the Mammary Gland and its Secretions, Vol. 1. Edited by Kon, S. K. & Cowie, A. T.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Dabelow, A. (1957) Die Milchdrüse. In: Handbuch der Mikroskopischen Anatomie des Menschen. Edited by von Moellendorff, W. & Borgmann, W.. Haut und Sinnesorgane, Ergänz zu Bd 3/1, 277. Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
Del Pozo, E. & Flückiger, E. (1973) Prolactin inhibition: experimental and clinical studies. In: Human Prolactin. Edited by Pasteels, J. L. & Robyn, C.. Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Del Pozo, E., Brun del Re, R., Varga, L. & Friesen, H.G. (1972) The inhibition of prolactin secretion in man by CB-154 (2-Br-α-ergocryptine). J. clin. Endocr. Metab. 35, 768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dilley, W.G. & Kister, S.J. (1975) In vitro stimulation of human breast tissue by human prolactin. J. natn. Cancer Inst. 55, 35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drife, L.O., McClelland, D.B.L., Pryde, A., Roberts, M.M. & Smith, I.I. (1976) Immunoglobulin synthesis in the ‘resting’ breast. Br. med. J. 2, 503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falconer, I.R. (1972) Uptake and binding of 125I-labelled prolactin by mammary tissue. Biochem. J. 126, 8p.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisch, L., Sala, N.L. & Schwarcz, R.L. (1964) Effect of cervical dilation upon uterine contractility in pregnant women and its relation to oxytocin secretion. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 90, 108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flaxman, B.A. & Lasfargues, E.Y. (1973) Hormone-independent DNA synthesis by epithelial cells of adult human mammary gland in organ culture. Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. Med. 143, 371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folley, S.J. (1969) The milk-ejection reflex: a neuroendocrine theme in biology, myth and art. J. Endocr. 44, X.Google ScholarPubMed
Forsyth, I. A. (1971) Organ culture techniques and the study of hormone effects on the mammary gland. J. Dairy Res. 38, 419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foss, G.L. & Short, D. (1951) Abnormal lactation. J. Obstet. Gynaec. Br. Commonw. 58, 35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frantz, A.G. (1972) Discussion, pp. 186–189. In: Lactogenic Hormones. Edited by Wolstenholme, G. E. W. & Knight, J.. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Frantz, A.G., Habif, D.V., Hyman, G.A., Suh, H.K., Sassin, J.F., Zimmerman, E.A., Noel, G. L. & Kleinberg, D.L. (1973) Physiological and pharmacological factors affecting prolactin secretion including its suppression by L-DOPA in the treatment of breast cancer. In: Human Prolactin. Edited by Pasteels, J. L. & Robyn, C.. Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Frantz, A.G., Kleinberg, D.L. & Noel, G.L. (1972) Studies on prolactin in man. Rec. Prog. Horm. Res. 28, 527.Google ScholarPubMed
Fujii, K., Hoshino, K., Shimizu, A., Ichinomiya, K. & Uruta, Y. (1959) Initiation of lactation in castrated women and sterile women with or without secondary amenorrhoea by priming with estrogen and luteoid and treating with prolactin. Bull. Tokyo Med. Dent. Univ. 6, 1.Google Scholar
Greenway, P.J. (1937) Artificially induced lactation in humans. E. Afr. med. J. 13, 346.Google Scholar
Hall, B. (1975) Changing composition of human milk and early development of an appetite control. Lancet, i, 779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, P., Guyda, H. & Friesen, H.G. (1971) A radioimmunoassay for human prolactin. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 1902.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hytten, F.E. (1954) Clinical and chemical studies in human lactation VI. The functional capacity of the breast. Br. med. J. 1, 912.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hytten, F.E. & Leitch, I. (1971) The Physiology of Human Pregnancy, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Jacobsohn, D. (1961) Hormonal regulation of mammary gland growth. In: Milk: the Mammary Gland and its Secretions, Vol. 1. Edited by Kon, S. K. & Cowie, A. T.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Jaffe, R.B., Tuen, B.H., Keye, W.R. & Midgley, A.R. (1973). Physiologic and pathologic profiles of circulating human prolactin. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 117, 757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolodny, R.C., Jacobs, L.S. & Daughaday, W.H. (1972) Mammary stimulation causes prolactin secretion in non-lactating women. Nature, Lond. 238, 284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuhn, N.J. (1969) Progesterone withdrawal as the lactogen trigger in the rat. J. Endocr. 44, 39CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lussky, H.O. (1951) Study of breast feeding at Evanston Hospital. Q. Bull. N. West Univ. Med. Sch. 25, 251.Google ScholarPubMed
McNeilly, A.S. (1972) The blood levels of oxytocin during suckling and hand-milking in the goat with some observations on the pattern of hormone release. J. Endocr. 52, 177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeilly, A.S. & Friesen, H.G. (1976) Prolactin during pregnancy and lactation in the rabbit: studies using a specific heterologous radioimmunoassay for rabbit prolactin. J. Endocr. 73, 12p.Google Scholar
McNeilly, A.S. & Hart, I.C. (1973) The release of oxytocin and prolactin during parturition in the goat. J. Endocr. 56, 159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macy, I.G., Hunscher, H.A., Donelson, E. & Nims, B. (1930) Human milk flow. Am. J. Dis. Childh. 39, 1186.Google Scholar
Mayer, G. & Klein, M. (1961) Histology and cytology of the mammary gland. In: Milk: the Mammary Gland and its Secretions, Vol. 1. Edited by Kon, S. K. & Cowie, A. T.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Milligan, D., Drife, J.O. & Short, R.V. (1975) Changes in breast volume during normal menstrual cycle and after oral contraceptives. Br. med. J. 4, 494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newton, M. (1961) Human lactation. In: Milk: the Mammary Gland and its Secretions, Vol. 1. Edited by Kon, S. K. & Cowie, A. T.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Newton, N. & Newton, M. (1948) The let-down reflex in human lactation. J. Pediat. 33, 698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newton, N. & Newton, M. (1950) Relation of the let-down reflex to the ability to breast feed. Pediatrics, 5, 726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noel, G.L., Suh, H.K. & Frantz, A.G. (1972) Induction of prolactin release by breast stimulation in humans. In: Proc. 4th International Congress of Endocrinology. International Congress Series No. 256. Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Petrakis, N.L., Mason, L., Lee, R., Sugimoto, B., Powson, S. & Catchpool, F. (1975) Association of race, age, menopausal status and cerumen type with breast fluid secretion in nonlactating women, as determined by nipple stimulation. J. natn. Cancer Inst. 54, 829.Google Scholar
Reyes, F.I., Winter, J.S.D. & Faiman, C. (1972) Pituitary-ovarian interrelationships during the puerperium. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 114, 589.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rimoin, D.L., Holzman, G.B., Merimee, T.J., Rabinowitz, D., Barnes, A.C., Tyson, J.E.A. & McKusick, V. A. (1968) Lactation in the absence of human growth hormone. J. clin. Endocr. Metab. 28, 1183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, J. & Short, R.V. (1977) Changes in human breast sensitivity at puberty, during the menstrual cycle and at parturition. Br. med. J. (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robyn, C., Delvoye, P., Van Exter, C., Vekemans, M., Caufriez, A., de Nayer, P., Delogne-Desnoeck, J. & L'Hermite, M. (1977) Physiological and pharmacological factors influencing prolactin secretion and their relation to human reproduction. In: Prolactin and Human Reproduction. Edited by Crosignani, P. G. & Robyn, C.. Academic Press, New York. (In press)Google Scholar
Rolland, R., De Jong, F.H., Schellekens, L.A. & Lequin, R. (1975a) The role of prolactin in the restoration of ovarian function during the early post-partum period in the human female. II. A study during inhibition of lactation by bromocriptine. Clin. endocr. 4, 27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rolland, R., Lequin, R.M., Schellekens, L.A. & De Jong, F.H. (1975b) The role of prolactin in restoration of ovarian function during the early post-partum period in the human female. I. A study during physiological lactation. Clin. endocr. 4, 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rolland, R. & Schellekens, L.A. (1973) A new approach to the inhibition of puerperal lactation. J. Obstet. Gynaec. Br. Commonw. 80, 945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schams, D. (1972) Prolactin levels in bovine blood, influenced by milking manipulation, genital stimulation and oxytocin administration with specific consideration of the seasonal variations. Acta endocr., Copenh. 71, 684.Google ScholarPubMed
Shiu, R.P.C. & Friesen, H.G. (1976) Blockade of prolactin action by an antiserum to its receptors. Science, N. Y. 192, 259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiu, R.P.C., Kelly, P.A. & Friesen, H.G. (1973) Radioreceptor assay for prolactin and other lactogenic hormones. Science, N. Y. 180, 969.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, I.D., Shearman, R.P. & Korda, A.R. (1972) Lactation following therapeutic abortion with prostaglandin F2α. Nature, Lond. 240, 411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tindal, J.S. (1972) Stimuli that cause the release of oxytocin. In: Handbook of Physiology, Section IV, Endocrinology, Part 1. American Physiological Society, Washington.Google Scholar
Turkington, R.W. (1970) Stimulation of RNA synthesis in isolated mammary cells by insulin and prolactin bound to sepharose. Biochim. biophys. Res. Comm. 41, 1362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyson, J.E. (1977) Nursing and prolactin secretion: principal determinants in the mediation of puerperal infertility. In: Prolactin and Human Reproduction. Edited by Crosignani, P. G. & Robyn, C.. Academic Press, New York. (In press)Google Scholar
Tyson, J.E. & Friesen, H.G. (1973) Factors influencing the secretion of human prolactin and growth hormone in menstrual and gestational women. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 116, 377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyson, J.E., Friesen, H.G. & Anderson, M.S. (1972) Human lactational and ovarian response to endogenous prolactin release. Science, N. Y. 177, 897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyson, J.E., Khojandi, M., Huth, J. & Andreassen, B. (1976) The influence of prolactin secretion on human lactation. J. clin. Endocr. Metab. 40, 764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vorherr, H. (1971) Catecholamine antagonism to oxytocin-induced milk-ejection. Acta endocr., Copenh. 67, Suppl. 154, 5.Google Scholar
Vorherr, H. (1972) ADH and oxytocin in blood and urine of gravides and parturients. Proc. Soc. Gynecol. Invest. Abst. p. 30.Google Scholar
Vorherr, H. (1974) The Breast: Morphology, Physiology and Lactation. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Zarate, A., Villalobos, H., Canales, E.S., Soria, J., Arlovedo, F. & MacGregor, C. (1976) The effect of oral administration of thyrotropin releasing hormone on lactation. J. clin. Endocr. Metab. 43, 301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed