Biology Of Lactation

A presentation of the most fundamental features of the biology of the mammary gland, a unique model of an organ capable of an abundant synthesis of proteins: endocrinology of lactation, role of prolactin, genetics and protein synthesis, immunology and the mammary gland, nutrition and dairy products. Readership: students, teachers, researchers, health and agriculture professionals. Lactation Biology was first published in French in 1993. The English version is not merely a translation: it has been updated by the author.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the substance that binds all mammals together. After drawing its first breath, every newborn mammal turns his or her complete attention to obtaining milk. This primal act was once thought to stem from a basic fact: milk provides the initial source of calories and nutrients for all mammalian young. But it turns out that milk is a much more complicated biochemical cocktail and provides benefits beyond nutrition. In this fascinating book, biologists Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin reveal this liquid’s evolutionary history and show how its ingredients have changed over many millions of years to become a potent elixir. Power and Schulkin walk readers through the early origins of the mammary gland and describe the incredible diversification of milk among the various mammalian lineages. After revealing the roots of lactation, the authors describe the substances that naturally occur in milk and discuss their biological functions. They reveal that mothers pass along numerous biochemical signals to their babies through milk. The authors explain how milk boosts an infant’s immune system, affects an infant’s metabolism and physiology, and helps inoculate and feed the baby’s gut microbiome. Throughout the book, the authors weave in stories from studies of other species, explaining how comparative research sheds light on human lactation. The authors then turn their attention to the fascinating topic of cross-species milk consumption—something only practiced by certain humans who evolved an ability to retain lactase synthesis into adulthood. The first book to discuss milk from a comparative and evolutionary perspective, Power and Schulkin’s masterpiece reveals the rich biological story of the common thread that connects all mammals.

This book had its genesIs In the frustrations of the editors in locating authoritative, up-to-date material for an interdisciplinary graduate course in mammary gland biology, lactation, and breast-feeding. As we turned to the original literature several reasons for the dearth of usable material became clear: (1) In the areas of mammary gland biology and physiology, particularly as they relate to the human, reviews simply have not kept up with current research, which has in the last two decades provided tremendous insight into the mechanisms of milk secretion and its control. (2) The lack of interest in human milk as infant food inhibited researchers until very recently from investigating human lactation. (3) Much of the relevant clinical information remains anecdotal with little scientific basis. In this book we have tried to present the fundamentals of mammary gland physiology at the organismic and cellular levels in a form readily understood by physicians, scientists, and other professionals. This basic information is accompanied by authoritative reviews of the nutritional and immunological properties of human milk and by clinically relevant chapters designed to help health care professionals deal with the medical problems of the breast-feeding mother and her infant. We have strived in these chapters for up-to-date, authoritative, but readable accounts. In so far as possible we have avoided areas where much of our understanding rests on speculation. In the clinical domain this was not always possible because of a lack of solid, scientific information about breast-feeding.

Greater knowledge of lactation allows us to alter environmental, nutritional, and milking procedures, or general management to maximize production. This book, focusing on lactation in farm animals (biology, physiological basis, nutritional requirements, and modelization), presents invited papers from internationally recognized scientists. This volume contains seven chapters covering the key topics related to milk production and lactation biology and physiology. The authors show that animals raised on a well-controlled nutrition regimen may have significant enhancement of succeeding lactations. Furthermore, the usefulness of a milk yield prediction system depends upon how accurately it can predict daily milking patterns and its ability to adjust to factors affecting supply. Milk yield prediction models have proven helpful for genetic analysis and for bio-economic modeling. On the whole, this book serves as an inspirational basis for both scientists and farmers.

Lactation is a fascinating process. Research over the last decade has provided new insights into the regulation of mammary gland development and involution. Lactation is the last step in reproduction, and therefore it is linked to reproduction strategy. Photoperiod species such as sheep, or pseudo-ovulatory (at mid-gestation) species as the rodent Lagostomus maximus, are interesting and unique models to study mammary gland physiology. This book also offers updated insights into the mechanisms that control postlactational involution, therefore also providing information to better understand breast cancer. Small noncoding RNA has opened new understanding in gene regulation. In this regard, our knowledge of mammary gland development and milk secretion has increased extremely. This book provides current scientific information on all these interesting topics. It will certainly be of great benefit to those interested in biomedical sciences.

Integrating Population Outcomes, Biological Mechanisms and Research Methods in the Study of Human Milk and Lactation is the product of the 10th Conference of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation, held on September 15-19, 2000, in Tucson, Arizona. The presented sessions at the meeting are as diverse as the volume itself. These sessions include the impact of micronutrient deficiencies during lactation on maternal and infant health, the premature infant, developmental immunology, breastfeeding in the industrialized world, and viral transmission in milk. Whenever possible, the sessions were organized to include human population research, research showing the biological underpinnings of the effects on human health, and important methodological issues. This volume is a contemporary and influential tool for human milk biologists, breastfeeding epidemiologists, biochemists, immunologists, clinical specialists, and all professionals and researchers in the field.