
A number of hypothalamic factors stimulate prolactin secretion, including TRH
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone, is a hypophysiotropic hormone, produced by neurons in the hypothalamus, that stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone and prolactin from the anterior pituitary.
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide. Oxytocin is normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, sexual reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin is released into the bloodstre…
Gastrin
Gastrin is a peptide hormone that stimulates secretion of gastric acid by the parietal cells of the stomach and aids in gastric motility. It is released by G cells in the pyloric antrum of the stomach, duodenum, and the pancreas.
What stimulates the release of prolactin?
- Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (C.R.H. causes the release of ACTH)
- Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (T.R.H. causes the release of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone aka Thyrotropin)
- Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH releases LH and FSH .)
- Growth Hormone R.H. & Growth Hormone I.H.
- Prolactin R.H. & Prolactin I.H.
What else can cause elevated prolactin levels?
Other potential causes of elevated prolactin levels include: If you are taking any medicine that affects the production of dopamine, it can have an effect on prolactin production. This means that medicines used to treat mental health conditions, high blood pressure, and pain relievers can all affect your prolactin levels.
How to reduce prolactin medically and naturally?
- Improve thyroid function
- Lower cholesterol naturally
- Reduce anxiety and depression
- Fight brain cell degeneration
- Stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels
- Support adrenal functions
What causes low and high prolactin levels?
- medication (i.e., dopamine infusion, ergot preparation, pyridoxine, diuretics)
- cigarette smoking
- eating disorders
- pituitary tumor
- head injury
- infection (e.g., tuberculosis, histoplasmosis)
- infiltrative diseases (e.g., sarcoidosis, hemochromatosis, lymphocytic hypophysitis)
- hormonal birth control

What stimulates prolactin release?
sucklingThe main stimulus for prolactin secretion is suckling, the effect of which is neuronally mediated. A key regulator of prolactin production is estrogens that enhance growth of prolactin-producing cells and stimulate prolactin production directly, as well as suppressing dopamine.
What controls release of prolactin?
The hypothalamus is largely responsible for regulating the synthesis and secretion of various hormones within the pituitary gland, including Prolactin.
Why does prolactin increase?
Causes of Abnormal Prolactin Levels Prolactinoma (a benign tumor in your pituitary gland that produces too much prolactin) Diseases affecting the hypothalamus(the part of the brain that controls the pituitary gland) Anorexia(an eating disorder) Drugs that are used to treat depression, psychosis, and high blood pressure.
Can stress cause high prolactin levels?
Prolactin levels also get higher during times of physical or emotional stress. Many medicines can cause prolactin levels to go up. Tumors of the pituitary gland can sometimes cause prolactin to be made. A damaged pituitary gland may not be able to make normal amounts of prolactin so levels will be lower.
Which genes encode more than one hormone?
Several genes, such as POMC, INHBA, and INHBB, encode more than one hormone, which further reduces the number of genes necessary to generate this group of peptide hormones. Table 1. Peptide hormone genes and transcripts. Gene symbol a.
What happens if estrogen levels drop too quickly?
Estrogen activity (E2) declines after ovulation. If it declines too quickly on days 15–19, there will be metrorrhagia. This can be due to insufficient rise in prolactin (PL, gray line), a sudden drop in GnRH and FSH that is intrinsic, or due to delayed CRH activity around day 18.
Is metrorrhagia 2C a hyperprolactinemia?
If it is due to adaptative activity, there is typically a hyperprolactinemia as noted in metrorrhagia type 2C, but limited to neuroendocrine management of the luteal phase. The BoF is similar to metrorrhagia 2C, but the progesterone index is typically low ( Table 5.13 ).
Do avian lactotrophs have calcitonin?
Avian lactotrophs also contain calcitonin (chicken: Maddineni et al., 2007 ). Based on the inverse relationship between the concentrations of PRL and calcitonin, it has been proposed that calcitonin inhibits PRL release (chicken: Maddineni et al., 2007 ).
Which neuropeptide is involved in both maintenance and synchronization of the clock?
Whereas VPAC2 (responding to both neuropeptides) is involved in both maintenance and synchronization of the clock, PAC1 seems to be involved in light-induced phase shift, as suggested by experiments with knockout mice.
Which neuropeptides are involved in the circadian pacemaker system?
In mammals, the two related neuropeptides pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and VIP influence the circadian pacemaker system in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Whereas PACAP acts on two receptor subtypes, PAC1 and VPAC2, VIP acts only on the latter.
Does TRH release PRL?
Like the situation for GH, there is evidence for an endogenous factor or factors that stimulate PRL release. This PRL-releasing hormone (PRH) at first was thought to be the tripeptide TRH because administration of synthetic TRH stimulates PRL release as well as TSH release, at least under some conditions. However, the neuropeptide VIP stimulates PRL release during suckling when TRH is ineffective. Administration of TRH to suckling mice causes elevated TSH release but no increase in PRL release such as caused by VIP. Furthermore, TSH release is not observed during normal suckling, arguing against TRH as being responsible for PRL release at that time. A peptide first isolated as an orphan receptor was found to be a potent releaser of PRL both in vivo and in vitro. This prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP) releases PRL when administered in low doses but is not as potent as TRH. PrRP apparently is widely distributed in the brain and can modulate many unrelated physiological events, including lactation, stress, body weight homeostasis, feeding behavior, and gastric motility. It is also a potent releaser of PRL in some nonmammals (see Chapter 5 ). Additional studies have shown that PrRP affects appetite (see Chapter 12 ). Tuberalin can stimulate release of PRL from lactotropes and is believed to be an important regulator related to photoperiodic effects on PRL release ( see pineal gland discussion, p 143).
What are the factors that stimulate prolactin release?
While many prolactin stimulating and enhancing factors are well known (such as thyrotropin-releasing hormone, oxytocin, vasoactive intestinal peptide and estrogen) those have primary functions other than stimulating prolactin release and the search for hypothetical releasing factor or factors continues.
What is the name of the hormone that releases hormones?
Prolactin-releasing hormone. Prolactin-releasing hormone , also known as PRLH, is a hypothetical human hormone or hormone releasing factor. Existence of this factor has been hypothesized as prolactin is the only currently known hormone for which almost exclusively negative regulating factors are known (such as dopamine, leukemia inhibitory factor, ...
Is prolactin a negative hormone?
Existence of this factor has been hypothesized as prolactin is the only currently known hormone for which almost exclusively negative regulating factors are known (such as dopamine, leukemia inhibitory factor, some prostaglandins) but few stimulating factors. While many prolactin stimulating and enhancing factors are well known ...
What is the regulation of prolactin secretion?
Regulation of prolactin secretion. Prolactin is unique among the major hormones in that its secretion is mainly under inhibitory control. Experimentally, several hormones have been shown to stimulate prolactin release, and for a long time there was a search for ‘the prolactin releasing factor’.
Which lobe of the brain is responsible for prolactin release?
Ben-Jonathan and colleagues identified a prolactin-releasing activity in the neurointermediate lobe, 247 but despite many subsequent studies, the identity and physiological role of this factor remain elusive.
Which neuron is stimulated by acetylcholine, glutamate, and opioids?
Multiple neural systems regulate dopaminergic neurons and PIF and PRF neurons, and subsequently regulate prolactin secretion. TIDA neurons are stimulated by acetylcholine, glutamate, and opioids, and are inhibited by stress, high levels of glucocorticoids, and histamine.
What happens if estrogen levels drop too quickly?
Estrogen activity (E2) declines after ovulation. If it declines too quickly on days 15–19, there will be metrorrhagia. This can be due to insufficient rise in prolactin (PL, gray line), a sudden drop in GnRH and FSH that is intrinsic, or due to delayed CRH activity around day 18.
Which receptors are expressed on all dopaminergic neurons that supply the pituitary?
Prolactin receptors are expressed on all dopaminergic neurons that supply the pituitary, enabling a short negative feedback loop of prolactin on dopamine synthesis. Increasing prolactin levels increases tyrosine hydroxylase expression, which, in turn, increases dopamine expression and leads to decreased prolactin levels [191,192].
Does PRP release prolactin?
PRP can stimulate prolactin release, but the location of PRP neurons in the brain does not fit a physiological role for PRP in direct regulation of prolactin secretion. It is an open question whether in pregnancy a specific prolactin-releasing factor is involved other than oxytocin and VIP (TRH is evidently not important). The importance and direction of prolactin actions on oxytocin neurons in pregnancy needs clarification, as does whether enkephalins expressed by TIDA neurons in late pregnancy auto-inhibit these neurons. The mechanisms in the hypothalamus involved in the neuroendocrine memory of mating await exploration. Computer-based modeling should continue to aid understanding of the changing control of prolactin secretion in pregnancy.
Which hormones are controlled by a hypophysiotrophic prolactin-releasing factor?
Prolactin-Releasing Factors. From the time of discovery of the hypothalamic hormones, it has been assumed that all pituitary hormones would be controlled by a hypophysiotrophic prolactin-releasing factor.
What hormones increase prolactin production?
Oestrogen is another key regulator of prolactin and has been shown to increase the production and secretion of prolactin from the pituitary gland. Studies have shown small increases in prolactin in the blood circulation of women during stages of their reproductive cycle where oestrogen levels are at their highest.
Which hormone is responsible for the production of prolactin?
One of the main regulators of the production of prolactin from the pituitary gland is the hormone called dopamine, which is produced by the hypothalamus, the part of the brain directly above the pituitary gland. Dopamine restrains prolactin production, so the more dopamine there is, the less prolactin is released.
What is it called when you have too much prolactin in your blood?
The condition of having too much prolactin circulating in the blood is called hyperprolactinaemia . The most common causes of hyperprolactinaemia include pregnancy, medications that reduce dopamine action in the body, thyroid underactivity and benign pituitary tumours (known as prolactinomas).
What is the name of the hormone that makes prolactin?
Alternative names for prolactin. In everyday language, prolactin is referred to as the ‘milk hormone’; PRL; luteotropic hormone; LTH.
Where is prolactin produced?
In humans, prolactin is produced both in the front portion of the pituitary gland ( anterior pituitary gland) and in a range of sites elsewhere in the body. Lactotroph cells in the pituitary gland produce prolactin, where it is stored and then released into the bloodstream. Human prolactin is also produced in the uterus, immune cells, brain, ...
Which hormones decrease prolactin?
In addition to dopamine and oestrogen, a whole range of other hormones can both increase and decrease the amount of prolactin released in the body, with some examples being thyrotropin-releasing hormone, oxytocin and anti-diuretic hormone.
What is it called when you have too little prolactin?
The condition of having too little prolactin circulating in the blood is called hypoprolactinaemia. This condition is very rare and may occur in people with pituitary underactivity. A decrease in the amount of prolactin secreted can lead to insufficient milk being produced after giving birth.
What hormone inhibits the release of prolactin?
Dopamine, sometimes called prolactin inhibitory hormone, inhibits the secretion of prolactin. Weaning of the baby inhibits the release of prolactin as well. The textbooks might also call it prolactin-inhibiting factor or prolactostatin.
What hormone causes milk to come out?
Remember oxytocin is the non-tropic hormone that causes milk to be squirted out (and uterine contractions). If they are producing milk and it’s not coming out, then they will have very, very full breasts. There’s no negative feedback loop from the mammary gland for prolactin.
What hormone stimulates the mammary glands to produce milk?
Prolactin is the hormone that stimulates the mammary glands to produce milk. During pregnancy, prolactin stimulates growth of the breast, but high estrogen and progesterone secretion prevent milk production.
What causes milk ejection in infants?
These cells are stimulated by suckling. Oxytocin causes milk ejection, in which smooth muscle-like cells called myoepithelial cells contract and push the milk from the glands into the breast ducts so that the infant can easily suck it out. The other neurosecretory cell that is affected is dopamine .
What hormones are released after delivery?
After delivery, estrogen and progesterone levels drop, and prolactin stimulates the secretion of milk by alveolar cells in the breast. Milk-let down or milk ejection is the name for milk squirting out a nipple.
What is the combination of milk production and secretion?
Lactation (the combination of milk production and secretion) is illustrated in the figure below: Suckling by the infant stimulates nipple mechanoreceptors that are connected by neural circuits to neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus.
Which hormone releases the different hormones from the adenohyp
Prolactin (Lactogenic Hormone) The hypothalamus releases the following Releasing Hormones that stimulate the release of different hormones from the adenohypophysis: Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (T.R.H. causes the release of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone aka Thyrotropin)
