Smoking effects on prolactin levels at pregnancy and lactation

Abstract

The effect of smoking on prolactin levels was studied on women of different nutritional status, at the end of pregnancy and in the first month of lactation Smoking (S, n=74) and non-smoking pregnant (NS, n=67) women were followed from the 35-38 weeks of pregnancy to the first month post-partum (S=43, NS=32) Smokers had an average of 6 3 cigarettes Blood sampling and anthropometric measurements, were conducted, in the morning, after a period of relax of the subject. At lactation, two samples were collected BASAL and post-suckling (POST) after 20-30 minutes of breast-feeding At the end of pregnancy, prolactin levels increased according to nutritional status but smoking women had always lower prolactin levels for all nutritional status, except for undernourished women, where there was no difference At lactation, a significant difference was found for BASAL and POST samples in favour of non-smoking women (BASAL Non-smokers, 2316 (SD 1532) - Smokers 1726 (SD 1360) and POST: Non-Smokers 4170