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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 ...
hypothyroidism [3] hypoprolactinemia [9] theca lutein cysts [3] hypertension [4] pregnancy [5] Smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day is associated with reduced milk production. [3] Many medications are known to significantly suppress milk production, including pseudoephedrine, diuretics, and contraceptives that contain estrogen. [10]
[1] [2] It is involved in lobuloalveolar maturation of the mammary glands during pregnancy and the induction and maintenance of lactation following parturition. [3] Hormones that control the secretion of prolactin from the pituitary gland include dopamine ("prolactin-inhibiting factor", or "PIF"), estradiol , progesterone , thyrotropin ...
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.
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 ...
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]