FEED-BACK INHIBITION OF MILK SECRETION: THE EFFECT OF A FRACTION OF GOAT MILK ON MILK YIELD AND COMPOSITION

• Published in: Experimental physiology 1988-05, Vol.73 (3), p.391-397
• Main Authors: Wilde, Colin J., Addey, Caroline V. P., Blatchford, David R., Peaker, Malcolm, Casey, Michael J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Feedback; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Goats - physiology; Lactation; Mammals - physiology; Milk - analysis; Milk Ejection; Milk Proteins - isolation & purification; Milk Proteins - physiology; Molecular Weight; Vertebrates: reproduction; Whey Proteins
• ISSN: 0958-0670; 0144-8757; 1469-445X
• DOI: 10.1113/expphysiol.1988.sp003155

A milk fraction containing whey proteins of 10-30 kDa was injected into one mammary gland of lactating goats via the teat canal. This fraction produced a temporary dose-dependent reduction in milk yield in the treated gland; the milk yield of the other gland, which received an equal volume of carrier solution, was not affected. Injection of a second fraction, containing whey proteins of 〉 30 kDa, affected milk secretion only at high doses, and this effect was not wholly specific to the treated gland. The 10-30 kDa fraction and the 〉 30 kDa fraction produced similar transient changes in the concentrations of several ions and lactose in milk of the treated gland, but not in that of the untreated gland. These data indicate that a milk constituent present in the 10-30 kDa whey inhibits milk secretion in a temporary and reversible manner. The results are discussed in relation to regulation of milk secretion through local feed-back inhibition.