Prolactin, growth hormone and human placental lactogen

Abstract

Within the last several years there has been a veritable explosion of knowledge concerning the hormones which form the topic of this presentation, most particularly in the case of prolactin. Since it is impossible to review all this material within the space permitted, this presentation will focus on what seem to be some of the most significant developments of the last few years, with major emphasis on human prolactin and on some of the studies which have been carried out in this laboratory. Additional references may be found in recent review articles on human prolactin (Frantz, 1973), human growth hormone (Glick, 1969; Merimee and Rabin, 1973) and placental lactogen (Friesen, 1973). In addition, these hormones have been the subject of several recent international conferences whose proceedings have appeared in book form (Boyns and Griffiths, 1972; Pecile and Muller, 1972; Wolstenholme and Knight, 1972; Pasteels and Robyn, 1973; Raiti, 1973).