title: Breastfeeding and prolactin levels in lactating women with a family history of alcoholism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many motivated new mothers fail to reach public health goals for breastfeeding, highlighting the need to identify risk factors. Because having a family history of alcoholism is associated with blunted prolactin responses to an alcohol challenge in nonlactating individuals, this study aimed to identify associations in family history of alcoholism, prolactin, and breastfeeding behaviors in lactating women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a 2-day experimental study that used within-subject alcohol or control beverage consumption and between-subject family history of alcoholism factors. The participants were non-alcohol-dependent lactating women; 7 were family history-positive (FHP) for alcohol dependence, and 21 were family history-negative (FHN). Consumption of 0.4 g/kg alcohol or nonalcoholic beverage occurred in separate randomized sessions, followed by use of a breast pump. Basal and suckling-induced prolactin, blood alcohol concentrations, milk yield, self-reported drug effects, neophobia, and breastfeeding patterning were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although no group differences in alcohol pharmacokinetics were detected, FHP women exhibited blunted prolactin to breast stimulation after drinking the control and alcohol beverage and felt more of the stimulant-like effects of alcohol than did FHN women. FHP women reported more frequent daily breastfeeding than did FHN women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first evidence that family history of alcoholism is associated with a blunted magnitude, rapidity, and duration of the prolactin response to breast stimulation and an alcohol challenge in lactating women. More frequent breastfeeding by FHP women suggests behavioral compensation for perceived and/or actual poor lactation. Alcohol did not enhance lactational performance, further disputing the lore that alcohol is a galactagogue.
authors.affiliation: Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA. mennella@monell.org
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mennella
authors.forename: Marta Yanina
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Pepino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D001942:Breast Feeding; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation / Q000097:blood*; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D011388:Prolactin
references.citation: NCHS Data Brief. 2007 Nov;(1):1-8
references.pmid: 19389313
references.citation: Br J Addict. 1992 Jun;87(6):931-5
references.pmid: 1525535
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005 Jun;29(6):965-70
references.pmid: 15976522
references.citation: Lancet. 1981 Oct 24;2(8252):934
references.pmid: 6117712
references.citation: Prog Brain Res. 2001;133:1-38
references.pmid: 11589124
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1991 Oct 3;325(14):981-5
references.pmid: 1886634
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Jul;144(7):854-9
references.pmid: 3605397
references.citation: Mayo Clin Proc. 2005 Aug;80(8):1050-7
references.pmid: 16092584
references.citation: Psychiatry Res. 2002 Aug 5;111(1):87-92
references.pmid: 12140123
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2002 Aug;26(8):1299-306
references.pmid: 12198408
references.citation: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1987 Jun;27(2):333-9
references.pmid: 3628448
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1998 Oct;22(7):1389-92
references.pmid: 9802517
references.citation: JAMA. 1993 Apr 7;269(13):1637-8
references.pmid: 8455295
references.citation: Experientia. 1969 Dec 15;25(12):1286-7
references.pmid: 5365859
references.citation: Endocr Rev. 2008 Feb;29(1):1-41
references.pmid: 18057139
references.citation: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994 Nov;51(11):849-59; discussion 863-4
references.pmid: 7944874
references.citation: Alcohol. 1991 Sep-Oct;8(5):383-7
references.pmid: 1797033
references.citation: Nutr Metab (Lond). 2008 Dec 01;5:35
references.pmid: 19046419
references.citation: Early Hum Dev. 1984 Sep;10(1-2):115-22
references.pmid: 6389080
references.citation: Physiol Rev. 2000 Oct;80(4):1523-631
references.pmid: 11015620
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2000 Mar;157(3):457-9
references.pmid: 10698826
references.citation: J Midwifery Womens Health. 2007 Nov-Dec;52(6):606-13
references.pmid: 17983998
references.citation: Alcohol Res Health. 1999;23(1):55-64
references.pmid: 10890798
references.citation: Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2004 Dec;16(6):408-14
references.pmid: 15673483
references.citation: Alcohol. 1988 Mar-Apr;5(2):95-8
references.pmid: 3395466
references.citation: Adv Neuroimmunol. 1995;5(2):111-25
references.pmid: 7496607
references.citation: JAMA. 1988 Feb 19;259(7):1016
references.pmid: 3339797
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1989 May;68(5):946-55
references.pmid: 2715293
references.citation: J Perinat Educ. 2001 Winter;10(1):45-7
references.pmid: 17273240
references.citation: Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol. 1988 Jul;24(7):1225-31
references.pmid: 3416905
references.citation: J Hum Lact. 2007 May;23(2):179-83
references.pmid: 17478870
references.citation: Appetite. 1992 Oct;19(2):105-20
references.pmid: 1489209
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Apr;90(4):1979-85
references.pmid: 15623810
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1997 Jun;21(4):581-5
references.pmid: 9194908
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007 Jun;31(6):909-18
references.pmid: 17433009
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2004 May;113(5):e465-71
references.pmid: 15121990
references.citation: J Hum Lact. 2002 Aug;18(3):274-9
references.pmid: 12192964
references.citation: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;63(9):999-1008
references.pmid: 16953002
references.citation: Psychiatry Res. 1997 Mar 3;69(1):27-32
references.pmid: 9080542
references.citation: Alcohol Alcohol. 2000 May-Jun;35(3):242-8
references.pmid: 10869242
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2008 Oct;122 Suppl 2:S69-76
references.pmid: 18829834
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2003 Sep;112(3 Pt 1):607-19
references.pmid: 12949292
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008 Nov;32(11):1899-908
references.pmid: 18715274
references.citation: Alcohol. 2006 Jan;38(1):29-36
references.pmid: 16762689