Reproductive experience reduces haloperidol-induced prolactin secretion in female rats

The present study examined possible changes in the dopaminergic regulation of prolactin (PRL) secretion which have been reported to occur in reproductively experienced female rats. In the first experiment, female rats which had raised a litter to weaning and age-matched nulliparous controls were ovariectomized and challenged sequentially 2 days apart with a low (0.2 mg/kg) and high (1.0 mg/kg) dose (intravenously) of haloperidol (HAL), a dopamine antagonist. Blood samples were collected via intra-atrial catheters, and plasma samples were assayed for PRL content by radioimmunoassay. Whereas HAL stimulated increases in plasma PRL concentrations in both nulliparous and primiparous animals, significantly higher levels of plasma PRL, were present after both doses of HAL in the nulliparous rats. A second experiment investigated the role of lactation in this change in the ability of HAL to stimulate increases in circulating PRL levels. Separate sets of age-matched primiparous (pups removed on day 1 of lactation) and nulliparous rats were challenged with two doses of HAL 2 weeks after gonadectomy. In contrast to the effect of pregnancy and lactation found in the first experiment, pregnancy and parturition in the absence of lactation failed to alter the female's sensitivity to HAL. The PRL responses in the two groups were identical at the low HAL dose and similar after the high HAL dose. These findings demonstrate that a single prior pregnancy and lactation, but not pregnancy alone, significantly reduce the ability of HAL to elevate circulating plasma PRL concentrations. Decreased circulating PRL levels in reproductively experienced females, therefore, may result in part from increased endogenous dopaminergic activity/tone.