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The concentration of prolactin in samples of fetal plasma and amniotic fluid collected from sheep with indwelling catheters has been measured by radioimmunoassay. There was considerable variation between animals in the concentration of prolactin in fetal plasma which ranged from <2 µg/l to >50 µg/l. In five out of eight fetuses which were sampled at intervals throughout the last 30 days of pregnancy, there was an increase in the concentration of prolactin in the plasma before parturition. The concentration of prolactin in amniotic fluid was consistently low (approximately 1 µg/l). Induction of premature parturition by intrafetal infusion of dexamethasone was accompanied by an increase in the concentration of prolactin in only one of three fetuses infused.

These results indicated that prolactin is present in fetal plasma but that an increase in prolactin in fetal plasma before the onset of parturition does not always occur. The low concentration of prolactin in amniotic fluid contrasts with the high concentrations of this hormone found in the amniotic fluid of the primate.

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				S. Gentili, M. J. Waters, and I. C. McMillen Differential regulation of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 in the liver and adipose tissue of the sheep fetus in late gestation Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, April 1, 2006; 290(4): R1044 - R1051. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. D. Phillips, R. V. Anthony, D. C. Houghton, and I. C. McMillen The Regulation of Prolactin Receptor Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Levels in the Sheep Liver before Birth: Relative Roles of the Fetal Hypothalamus, Cortisol, and the External Photoperiod Endocrinology, May 1, 1999; 140(5): 1966 - 1971. [Abstract] [Full Text]