Lactation abolishes corticotropin-releasing factor-induced oxytocin secretion in the conscious rat.

We have assessed the response of plasma oxytocin (OT) to intracerebroventricular CRF-41 in both virgin female and lactating rats. In virgin rats CRF-41 resulted in an increase in plasma OT from 5-30 min after administration. In lactating rats, however, there was a complete abolition of the OT response, even at the highest dose of CRF-41. These data demonstrate another feature of the hormone nonresponsiveness apparent during lactation and suggests that one of the reasons for the lack of stress responses could be a down-regulation of the response to endogenously released CRF-41.