title: Immunoreactive glucagon and insulin in mammary secretion and blood in women during the periparturient period.
abstract: The concentrations of glucagon (G) and insulin (I) in the isolated when fraction of colostrum and plasma were determined by radioimmunoassay in 30 women on the last day of pregnancy, on the parturition day and during 7 consecutive postpartum days. The levels of G and I in colostrum were high on the last day of pregnancy (15.41 +/- 0.75 ng/ml and 256.9 +/- 32.7 microU/ml, resp.) and on the day of parturition (13.41 +/- 0.63 ng/ml and 279.5 +/- 41.9 microU/ml, resp.), while relatively lower values were observed on the next day (10.1 +/- 0.41 ng/ml and 194.7 +/- 19.3 microU/ml, resp.). During the next 4 days after parturition the concentrations of these hormones gradually decreased almost to the same basal level as observed in plasma. High hormone concentrations in mammary secretion during the periparturition period were probably caused by intensified transfer through blood-mammary gland barrier, and could reflect increasing needs for these hormones by developing mammocytes and by the newborns adapting to the extrauterine life. In conclusion, a high amount of G and I in mammary secretion may have physiological importance for the neonate. No statistically significant correlation in the hormone concentration between colostrum and plasma were noted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Experimental Endocrinology, CAW, Polish Academy of Science, Poznan.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowak
mesh_terms: D003126:Colostrum / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005934:Glucagon / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D005934:Glucagon