Abstract
Summary
1. Thirty-eight mature female, predominantly New Zealand White rabbits, were injected subcutaneously daily with 0.2 mg estradiol for 15 days to develop the mammary duct system. They were then divided into 4 groups and injected subcutaneously as follows for 5 days: 0.85% saline; 0.25 mg epinephrine in oil twice daily; 12.5 mg acetylcholine iodide/kg BW twice daily; 5 mg serotonin base/kg BW once daily. On 21st day the rabbits were killed and mammary glands examined for growth and lactation.
2. Only 1 of 11 saline-injected rabbits showed gross lactation and lobulo-alveolar development, in contrast to 6 of 8 epinephrine-treated rabbits, 5 of 8 acetylcholine-injected rabbits and 9 of 11 rabbits treated with serotonin. The latter drug induced the greatest, and acetylcholine the least degree of mammary growth and lactation.
3. These results demonstrate that the 3 drugs in pharmacological doses can induce prolactin release from the anterior pituitary of rabbits.
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