Milk ejection reflex and maintenance of lactation in the rabbit.

Abstract

Lactating rabbits were deeply anesthetized once daily with barbiturate, suckled by their young only during the period of anesthesia, and injected with oxytocin to eject the otherwise unobtainable milk. The oxytocin-delivered daily milk yields of these animals, when suckled under anesthesia, were in the same range as those recorded prior to the regimen of anesthesia during a control period of once-daily suckling without anesthesia or exogenous oxytocin. Reflex discharge of milk in response to the suckling stimulus does not, therefore, appear to be essential for the secretion or release of those adenohypophysial hormones concerned with the maintenance of milk secretion in the rabbit.