In plain words
Autocrine control is how the breast adjusts milk making with a local signal. Milk left in the breast slowly lowers production. Milk removed from the breast lets production rise again. Because of this, frequent milk removal is linked with steady supply. It takes over around the fifth day after birth, when the hormone-driven early stage gives way to this local control. Some mothers find that long gaps or a full, tight breast slows supply. Others find supply shifts with stress, illness, or a change in routine. A can assess a supply that feels low or a change that worries a mother.
The deeper version
Autocrine control of lactation operates through (FIL), a whey protein that accumulates in retained milk and downregulates secretory synthesis locally (Wilde and Peaker, 1995). Sustained distension of the alveoli is counterproductive to supply. The autocrine mechanism dominates from about day five after birth, after the endocrine priming of (Daly and colleagues, 1996). Milk removal frequency and completeness are the principal determinants of volume, and the relationship between removal and synthesis is nonlinear. Clinical measures of supply, such as and milk output, reflect this dynamic. The controversy concerns how much low supply is explained by autocrine control, versus prolactin-mediated and anatomic factors, and how to weigh these in individual cases.
Where it comes up
- Low milk supply: real, perceived, and what helpsFeeding Your Baby
- Engorgement when milk comes inPostpartum: Your Body
- Exclusive pumpingFeeding Your Baby
- How breastfeeding works: supply and demandFeeding Your Baby
- Night weaningFeeding Your Baby
What mothers here say about autocrine control
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Wilde CJ and Peaker M — Feedback inhibitor of lactation in the mammary gland (1995)
- Daly SE and colleagues — Local control of milk synthesis and the autocrine mechanism (1996)