Autocrine control in milk secretion

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Abstract
The mammary gland is controlled at two levels in the body. The genetically controlled pattern of parental investment during lactation is modified by nutritional status and signalled to the mammary gland by the endocrine system (see Peaker 1989). The response to this strategic control of the rate of milk secretion is modulated by a tactical control mechanism operating within each mammary gland. The local intramammary mechanism responds to changes in the frequency or completeness of milk removal and acts to match the rate of milk secretion to the rate of milk removal by the young or, in dairy animals, by the milker. It is the local control of milk secretion by milk removal which has been uncovered in recent years, following the realization of the physiological significance of unilateral effects of frequent milking in goats (Linzell & Peaker 1971) and cows (Morag 1973) that is the subject of this brief review.