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Prolactin has a wide variety of effects. It stimulates the mammary glands to produce milk (): increased serum concentrations of prolactin during pregnancy cause enlargement of the mammary glands and prepare for milk production, which normally starts when levels of progesterone fall by the end of pregnancy and a suckling stimulus is present.
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 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] Prolactin is released into milk at amounts consistent ...
Erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production, increases throughout pregnancy and reaches approximately 150 percent of their pregnancy levels at term. [24] The slight drop in hematocrit or hemoglobin is most pronounced at the end of the second trimester and slowly improves when reaching term.
Prolactin, a major hormone of the HPP axis.. The hypothalamic–pituitary–prolactin axis (HPP axis), also known as the hypothalamic–pituitary–mammary axis or hypothalamic–pituitary–breast axis, is a hypothalamic–pituitary axis which includes the secretion of prolactin (PRL; luteotropin) from the lactotrophs of the pituitary gland into the circulation and the subsequent action of ...
The onset of lactation (OL), also referred to as stage II lactogenesis or secretory activation, [1] [4] is one of the three stages of the milk production process. [1] OL is the stage when plentiful production of milk is initiated following the delivery of a full-term infant. [5] [6] It is stimulated by an abrupt withdrawal of progesterone and ...
High levels of prolactin during pregnancy and breastfeeding also increase insulin resistance, increase growth factor levels (IGF-1) and modify lipid metabolism in preparation for breastfeeding. During lactation, prolactin is the main factor maintaining tight junctions of the ductal epithelium and regulating milk production through osmotic balance.
Decreased estrogen increases production of prolactin which increases milk production. [3] The other mechanism states that hyperprolactinemia in neonates after birth results from their exposure to high maternally transferred estrogen level during pregnancy. [2]