Abstract
THE fact that extracts of the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland will cause expulsion of milk from the mammary glands of lactating animals has been known for some time1,2. The suggestion that the oxytocic factor is involved in normal milk let-down was made by Ely and Petersen3, though Turner had proposed a theory of milk ejection earlier4 and with Cooper5 presented evidence for the existence of a separate milk-ejection hormone. This evidence was based on the use of a lactating rabbit as an assay animal, and showed that the milk-ejecting activity of whole pituitrin is greater than that of purified oxytocin for a given oxytocic activity, and that the purified pressor preparation is more active than it should be for its oxytocic content.
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References
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Gaines, W. L., Amer. J. Physiol., 38, No. 2, 285 (1915).
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Livermore, A. H., and du Vigneaud, V., J. Biol. Chem., 180, 365 (1949).
McFarlane, D., Rennie, J. C., and Blackburn, P. S. (unpublished).
Richardson, K. C., Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 136, 30 (1949).
Philips, D. S. M., Proc. N.Z. Animal Prod. Soc. (in the press).
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WHITTLESTON, W. Nature of the Milk-Ejection Process. Nature 166, 994 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1038/166994a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/166994a0
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