Prolactin

Definition of Prolactin

From the elephant glossary Section: hormone

Relevant Literature about Prolactin
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Diagnosis of Pregnancy in elephants may be performed endocrinologically using prolactin or Progesterone levels.

From Progesterone and Prolactin Profiles of the Female Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus) Serum prolactin concentrations can range from . 77 ng/ml to 1020 ng/ml. (Melissa Ann Carden, Progesterone and Prolactin Profiles of the Female Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus))

Prolactin levels fluctuated below 10 ng/ml during estrus, with one spike above 10 ng/ml occurring on day one of Progesterone rise. Serum prolactin showed low level fluctuations throughout the estrous cycle, with spikes above 10 ng/ml in weeks one and two only (spikes were noted in 3 of 18 cycles). Gestational prolactin levels climbed slowly for the first 3-4 months, reaching significantly higher levels by the fifth month. Prolactin levels remained elevated to term. This study indicates that Progesterone and prolactin may be utilized to assess reproductive status (estrous cycle length, estrus predictin, Pregnancy) in female Asian elephants
Melissa Ann Carden, Progesterone and Prolactin Profiles of the Female Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus)

From Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants, 2006 by Murray Fowler, Susan K. Mikota

Overall Mean (+SEM) and Normal Mean Range Concentrations of Baseline Serum Pituitary, is 4.9 ± 0.4 for female Asian elephants, and 7.8 ± 0.5 for female African elephants, and ca 2.5 from males from both Species.

Prolactin levels in pregnant elephants rise slowly beginning at 16 weeks of Gestation and are significantly elevated after 24 weeks Gestation. This allows the use of a single serum prolactin sample to confirm Pregnancy in elephants that are pregnant 6 months or more.

Prolactin increases significantly after the fifth month of Gestation and is a reliable tool for diagnosing Pregnancy in single samples. Prolactin immunoreactivity increases markedly after 5–7 months of Gestation in both Asian and African elephants, permitting Pregnancy diagnosis based on single sample analyses.

Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants, 2006 by Murray Fowler, Susan K. Mikota

Prolactin is mentioned on 2 other pagesProgesterone, Cortisol,

Reference list Koehl, Dan, (2025). Prolactin. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 20 September 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/index.php?id=153. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Page 387, chapter 28, *FOWLER
Melissa Ann Carden, Progesterone and Prolactin Profiles of the Female Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus), online at https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/200/
Patcharapa Towiboon, Kanokporn Saenphet, Chatchai Tayapiwattana, Siriwan Tangyuenyong, Gen Watanabe, Sittidet Mahasawangkul, Janine L Brown, Chatchote Thitaram, Relationship among Serum Progestagens, Cortisol, and Prolactin in Pregnant and Cycling Asian Elephants in Thailand, online at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35622772/

Selected publications

Carden, M., Schmitt, D., Tomasi, T., Bradford, J., Moll, D. and Brown, J. 1998. Utility of serum progesterone and prolactin analysis for assessing reproductive status in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Animal Reproduction Science 53:133–142.
Li, C.H., Chung, D., Bewley, T.A. and Cabrera, C.M. 1987b. Elephant prolactin: Isolation and characterization https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3596899/
Li, C.H., Oosthuizen, M.M.J. and Chung, D. 1989. Primary structure of elephant pituitary prolactin. Int J Peptide Protein Res 33(1):67–69.
Patcharapa Towiboon, Kanokporn Saenphet, Chatchai Tayapiwattana, Siriwan Tangyuenyong, Gen Watanabe, Sittidet Mahasawangkul, Janine L Brown, Chatchote Thitaram, Relationship among Serum Progestagens, Cortisol, and Prolactin in Pregnant and Cycling Asian Elephants in Thailand

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Categories glossary | hormone

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