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The role of prolactin in the maintenance of the corpus luteum of pseudopregnancy was studied in the golden hamster. Nine groups of seven to fourteen animals each received 1 mg bromocriptine at 11.00 h on days 1, 2 or 3 of pseudopregnancy (three groups for each day). On each day of treatment with bromocriptine, one group of hamsters was injected with bovine prolactin 4 h before bromocriptine, and one group received prolactin 4 h before bromocriptine for three consecutive days following treatment with bromocriptine. One group received bromocriptine only. These nine groups were compared with a control group of animals given 0·85% saline instead of bromocriptine and prolactin. Peripheral blood samples were taken from all hamsters at 11.00 h on days 3, 4, 5 and 6 of pseudopregnancy and plasma levels of progesterone were determined by radioimmunoassay. Luteolysis, indicated by a decline in progesterone level by 24 or 48 h after treatment with bromocriptine, occurred in all hamsters given bromocriptine alone, whether it was administered on day 1, 2 or 3. Pretreatment with a single dose of prolactin did not mitigate the bromocriptine-induced fall in progesterone. In the majority of cases, pretreatment with prolactin plus daily doses of prolactin maintained the progesterone at levels not different from saline-treated hamsters. These data suggest that prolactin is a necessary luteotrophin during early pseudopregnancy without which luteolysis ensues.

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				B. D. Murphy Models of Luteinization Biol Reprod, July 1, 2000; 63(1): 2 - 11. [Abstract] [Full Text]