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Plasma levels of prolactin and TSH were determined by radioimmunoassay in urethane-anaesthetized lactating rats during suckling. Oxytocin release was monitored by recording intramammary pressure. Application of ten pups, 3 h after administration of urethane (1·1 g/kg, i.p.), evoked a parallel rise in prolactin and TSH concentrations which reached a maximum during the 3rd hour of suckling and then declined. Peak hormone concentrations represented a 25-fold increase in prolactin and a ten-fold increase in TSH. Suckling also elicited a pulsatile (every 5–10 min) release of 0·5–1·0 mu. oxytocin. The gradual rise in prolactin and TSH occurred between the 1st and 20th oxytocin pulses.

Intravenous injection of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) into unsuckled, anaesthetized lactating rats resulted in a 7- to 30-fold increase in TSH concentration, whereas prolactin levels showed no substantial change.

These results indicate that suckling releases TSH as well as prolactin in the urethane-anaesthetized rat. However, the absence of prolactin release after injections of TRH makes it unlikely that both endocrine responses are regulated solely by the actions of this one releasing hormone.

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				M. Yamada, N. Shibusawa, S. Ishii, K. Horiguchi, R. Umezawa, K. Hashimoto, T. Monden, T. Satoh, J. Hirato, and M. Mori Prolactin Secretion in Mice with Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone Deficiency Endocrinology, May 1, 2006; 147(5): 2591 - 2596. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]