Stimulation of milk synthesis in the rabbit by fish pituitary extract

The lactogenic properties of extracts of the pituitary glands of salmon and trout were evaluated by using the organ culture technique with rabbit mammary explants. Crude extracts and fractions obtained after chromatography on Ultrogel and selected for their capacity to compete with ovine prolactin in a rabbit mammary gland radioreceptor assay were added to the culture medium. The criteria of lactogenesis were lactose synthetase activity, casein synthesis, measurements of the concentration of casein messenger RNA and the histology of mammary glands. All these tests led to the conclusion that salmon and trout pituitary glands contain a prolactin-like principle capable of initiating milk synthesis in the rabbit mammary cell.