Oxytocic Hormone

Oxytocic Hormone

Oxytocin Causes Contraction of the Pregnant Uterus. Thehormone oxytocin, in accordance with its name, pow-erfully stimulates contraction of the pregnant uterus, especially toward the end of gestation. Therefore, many obstetricians believe that this hormone is at least partially responsible for causing birth of the baby. This is supported by the following facts: (1) In a hypophy-sectomized animal, the duration of labor is prolonged, indicating a possible effect of oxytocin during delivery. (2) The amount of oxytocin in the plasma increases during labor, especially during the last stage. (3) Stim-ulation of the cervix in a pregnant animal elicits nervous signals that pass to the hypothalamus and cause increased secretion of oxytocin.

Oxytocin Aids in Milk Ejection by the Breasts. Oxytocin alsoplays an especially important role in lactation—a role that is far better understood than its role in delivery. In lactation, oxytocin causes milk to be expressed from the alveoli into the ducts of the breast so that the baby can obtain it by suckling.

This mechanism works as follows:The suckling stim-ulus on the nipple of the breast causes signals to be transmitted through sensory nerves to the oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei in the hypothalamus, which causes release of oxytocin by the posterior pituitary gland. The oxytocin is then carried by the blood to the breasts, where it causes contraction of myoepithelial cells that lie outside of and form a latticework surrounding the alveoli of the mammary glands. In less than a minute after the begin-ning of suckling, milk begins to flow.