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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Plasma concentrations of oxytocin, prolactin, and cortisol were compared in five Swedish Red and White cows milked by hand versus machine. Cows were divided into two groups. One group was hand-milked; the other group was machine-milked. Treatments were switched every other day. The experiment was carried out for 6 d. Blood samples were taken prior to, during, and after milking and were assayed for hormones. More oxytocin and prolactin were released in hand-milked cows. There were no significant diurnal differences between the total amount of oxytocin released for the different treatments, but prolactin tended to be higher during hand-milking in the evening than in the morning milking. Cortisol concentrations were greater during hand-milking than during machine-milking. There were no significant treatment differences with regard to the total amount of cortisol released. During morning milking, cortisol concentrations were higher during hand-milking than during machine-milking. Our data show that hand-milking results in a pronounced and prolonged release of oxytocin and prolactin.
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PMID:Endocrine responses in cows milked by hand and machine. 156 Jan 39

Neuropeptides that may induce behavioral activation--thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), oxytocin (OXY), and prolactin (PRL)--were tested on thiopenthal-induced narcosis after IV administration in male rats. TRH caused a significant shortening of sleeping time at the doses of 3 and 5 mg/kg, but did not change this parameter at lower doses. Oxytocin was effective at all doses tested (200, 300, and 400 micrograms/kg). Prolactin also shortened sleeping time at the doses of 0.2 and 1 mg/kg administered IV, slightly increasing it at the dose of 5 mg/kg. These results indicate that various neuropeptides are capable of reducing the duration of thiopenthal-induced sleep in rats.
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PMID:Effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, oxytocin, and prolactin on thiopenthal-induced narcosis in rats. 161 61

Breast feeding can serve as a contraceptive up to 6 months after birth with 98% effectiveness. The so-called suckling reflex arc is a sensitive mechanism conveying messages about nutritional needs of the child, stimulating the release of prolactin responsible for milk production, suppressing ovarian activity by hypothalamic beta-endorphin production leading to reduction in the pulsatile release of gonadotrophic hormones. Increased suckling produces more milk, but only in well-fed women. In Bangladesh, malnourished children required more suckling time than better-fed infants. Increasing the amounts of weaning food lowers feed urgency and suckling intensity thereby relaxing ovarian suppression. Breast-milk consumption can be measured by test weighing the infant before and after feeding, but it is subject to error, especially in developing countries where up to 20 feeds are required to deliver 800 ml of milk. Thus, weighing over 2-5 days is more accurate. The method of giving deuterium oxide tracer to the mother, and measuring its disappearance from the mother's milk and the infant's saliva for 2 weeks is precise and noninvasive. The Doppler ultrasound technique measures milk flow through an artificial teat for research purposes. Manual or mechanical pump measurement of milk transfer separates the mother from the child, thus it is not useful for normal conditions. It can be used for estimating the amount of milk left and the rate of milk secretion by using a breast pump along with oxytocin for full emptying of milk. Accurate estimation of suckling intensity and milk transfer is essential for the determination of the relationship of breast feeding and lactational infecundity.
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PMID:Breast-feeding patterns, maternal milk output and lactational infecundity. 163 60

The effect of total weaning (all piglets were weaned at 35 days of lactation) and fractionated weaning (the heavier half of the litter was weaned on day 33 of lactation and the remainder 2 days later) on plasma levels of prolactin, oxytocin, insulin, glucagon, glucose, gastrin and somatostatin in primiparous sows was studied. Twelve crossbred sows were grouped into six pairs according to farrowing data and litter size. The litter of one sow in each pair was weaned in two stages (treatment), and the other was conventionally weaned (control). Blood samples were collected via a permanent jugular vein catheter every 3 hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from day 31 of lactation until the third day of final weaning. In response to total weaning (studied in the six control sows), plasma prolactin, glucagon and gastrin decreased significantly, whereas plasma insulin and somatostatin significantly increased. Basal concentrations of plasma oxytocin and glucose remained unchanged after weaning. Fractionated weaning did not result in any significant differences in the hormonal and glucose levels as compared with the total weaning. The possible role of prolactin in modulating insulin, glucagon and glucose concentrations as well as the possibility that oxytocin affects gastrin and somatostatin levels following weaning are discussed.
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PMID:Effects of weaning on plasma levels of prolactin, oxytocin, insulin, glucagon, glucose, gastrin and somatostatin in sows. 167 12

Arginine vasopressin, oxytocin and ACTH are released from the pituitary gland in response to acute hypoglycemia. To investigate the role of alpha-adrenergic mechanisms in mediating this response, 6 non-diabetic subjects were studied during hypoglycemia induced by 0.15 IU/kg i.v. insulin under control conditions, and during non-selective alpha-adrenergic blockade with phentolamine. In the control study plasma arginine vasopressin rose from 1.6 +/- 0.8 pmol/l (mean +/- SEM) basally to a maximum of 2.5 +/- 0.8 pmol/l following hypoglycemia (p less than 0.05). An exaggerated response was found during phentolamine blockade, with a maximum plasma vasopressin of 11.5 +/- 0.4 pmol/l (by analysis of variance, p less than 0.05). The plasma oxytocin response to hypoglycemia was similarly increased during phentolamine compared to control. Plasma growth hormone rose to 94 +/- 19 mU/l, and during blockade with phentolamine the response was significantly reduced reaching a peak of 34 +/- 7 mU/l (by analysis of variance, p less than 0.05). ACTH and prolactin both increased in response to hypoglycemia, but the increases were not affected by phentolamine. An alpha-adrenergic mechanism appears to inhibit the release of arginine vasopressin and oxytocin in response to hypoglycemia, but does not appear to affect the secretion of ACTH.
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PMID:Effect of alpha-adrenergic blockade on pituitary hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in humans. 168 2

The pituitary hormones prolactin and oxytocin play important roles in the production and ejection of milk. In addition, some gastrointestinal peptides are released in response to suckling. During suckling, the piglets massage the udder of the sow both before and after let-down and the duration of suckling is correlated to the amount of milk produced by the sow. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a quantitative relation between the release of prolactin, gastrin, somatostatin, insulin, glucagon and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and the amount of stimulation of the sow's teats by the piglets. Repeated blood samples were drawn from three Swedish Landrace sows during three consecutive nursings by each sow on days 1, 3, 7 and 14 after parturition. The duration of massage by the piglets was noted, as was the number of piglets massaging. Hormone levels were quantified by radioimmunoassay. The release of prolactin, somatostatin, insulin, glucagon and VIP but not of gastrin were found to be significantly related to the amount of teat massage performed by the piglets during the first 2 weeks of lactation. The release was related to the duration of piglet massage or to the combined effect of duration and the number of piglets massaging but not to the number of piglets massaging per se. The basal level of prolactin was found to decrease during this time.
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PMID:Quantitative relationships between suckling-induced teat stimulation and the release of prolactin, gastrin, somatostatin, insulin, glucagon and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in sows. 168 75

An immunocytochemical investigation was carried out on round and spreading hemocytes of Planorbarius corneus by using 20 antisera to vertebrate bioactive peptides. The immunotests showed the presence of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin-bombesin-, calcitonin-, CCK-8 (INC)-, CCK-39-, gastrin-, glucagon-, Met-enkephalin-, neurotensin-, oxytocin-, somatostatin-, substance P-, VIP-, and vasopressin-immunoreactive molecules in the spreading hemocytes. The round hemocytes were only positive to anti-bombesin, anticalcitonin, anti-CCK-8 (INC), anti-CCK-39, anti-neurotensin, anti-oxytocin, anti-substance P and anti-vasopressin antibodies. No immunostaining was observed with anti-CCK-8 (Peninsula), anti-insulin, anti-prolactin, anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroxin (T4) antibodies. As probably in vertebrates, these bioactive peptides may modulate immuno cell function.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical evidence of vertebrate bioactive peptide-like molecules in the immuno cell types of the freshwater snail Planorbarius corneus (L.) (Gastropoda, Pulmonata). 169 11

In order to isolate and characterize genes whose expression may be altered in breast malignancy, we screened a cDNA library with a polyclonal anti-serum against breast-cancer-metastasis membranes and isolated several immunopositive clones. One of these, AJ1, was analyzed in detail and found to be expressed at varying levels as a 3.3-kb mRNA in all of 143 breast cancers. High expression was associated with lymph-node involvement (p = 0.03). Comparison between high- and low-expressing groups showed a significant difference at 4 and 6 years for both overall (p = 0.004 and p = 0.002 respectively) and disease-free (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.04 respectively) survival, but not at 11 years. AJ1 was expressed at much lower levels in non-malignant biopsies as compared with malignant tissue (p = 0.001). Expression was observed in breast-cancer cell lines MCF-7, ZR-75-1, T47D, MDA-MB-231 and HBL 100. Partial sequence analysis of the 620 bp clone showed complete homology with human heat-shock protein 89 alpha. In addition to being heat-inducible in all the breast cell lines examined, AJ1 levels were increased by estradiol (blocked by cyclohexamide and tamoxifen), EGF, oxytocin and vasopressin in a time-dependent manner in MCF-7 cells and by estradiol, EGF, prolactin and hydrocortisone in T47D cells. In MDA-MB-231 cells, EGF caused down-regulation of AJ1 mRNA levels. The increasing evidence for the association of heat-shock proteins with steroid receptors suggests that AJ1 may play an important role in the control of estrogen-receptor transcriptional activity in breast cancers.
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PMID:Clinical and biological significance of HSP89 alpha in human breast cancer. 173 10

Breast-feeding is today the major form of infant nutrition in the immediate postpartum period. Despite this, recent trends in modern life-styles have raised obstacles to successful lactation. These include infant illness and maternal responsibilities outside the home, both requiring separation from the mother. While the hormonal dynamics of infant suckling are understood, little is known about the effects of artificial methods of milk expression. A variety of breast pumps exist in the current US market which vary considerably in price and effectiveness. To understand better the ability of these pumps to assist women in the maintenance of lactation, the current study was undertaken to evaluate their effects on milk yield and prolactin and oxytocin release when compared to natural infant suckling. Twenty-three women who were exclusively breast-feeding their infants were randomly assigned to serially use several pumping methods, as well as infant suckling, with blood being taken at 10-minute intervals to determine the hormonal responses. The results reveal variability in the prolactin responses to the artificial pumping methods, with the greatest responses found with an electric pulsatile pump; these responses compare favorably with those of natural infant suckling. Other methods were less successful in causing prolactin elevations. No differences were seen among the methods in the oxytocin response. The results of this study demonstrate striking differences in the ability of breast-pumping methods to produce an acute and sustained prolactin rise in breast-feeding mothers. The large discrepancies found suggest the need for further studies in to enable women and health care providers to choose the most appropriate method for milk expression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Acute prolactin and oxytocin responses and milk yield to infant suckling and artificial methods of expression in lactating women. 174 Dec 18

In 117 parturients with 38-41 gestation weeks, prolactin was analysed by the radioimmunologic method in the mother serum, the umbilical cord serum and vein, and in the amnionic fluid. Three groups of parturients and their newborns were examined: the group (n = 44) with the birth having started spontaneously with the appearance of labour pains 1/10 minutes, the group (n = 38) with a programmed birth induced by the infusion of oxytocin, and the group (n = 35) with the birth comprising elective cesarean section. The concentration of prolactin in the examined sera is characterized by considerable individual oscillations. The highest prolactin level was in the amnionic fluid (395.6 +/- 130.1 mu/L) and the lowest in the mother serum (174.6 +/- 84.1 mu/L) which shows a statistically significant difference (p less than 0.01). Prolactin values in the umbilical artery (244.6 +/- 98.3 mu/L) and vein (230.4 +/- 91.7 mu/L) are significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than the value in the mother sera and significantly lower (p less than 0.001) than the prolactin concentration in the amnionic fluid. The difference of the prolactin values in the sera of the umbilical cord blood vessels has no statistical significance (p greater than 0.05). Nor is there any statistically significant difference between prolactin concentrations in spontaneous and induced deliveries versus those in deliveries terminated with elective cesarean section (p greater than 0.05). A correlation analysis of the functional connection of prolactin in the sera of the mother, fetus, and amnionic fluid gives the correlation coefficient values of high statistical significance (0.482 less than r less than 0.906; p less than 0.001).
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PMID:[Correlation between levels of prolactin in maternal serum, fetal serum and amniotic fluid in childbirth at term]. 174 78


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