Thanks for a very interesting article -- it's good to have these 
intricacies explored and celebrated, even if much of the article focused 
on how these wonderful features can be replicated/

Alongside was a link to another story:

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i43/8543news3.html

a subscription-only page, but googling the subject brought up the story, 
which I'll paste below.  It speculates about SSRIs and milk production, 
which we were dicussing recently.. This was all news to me --  it's 
making it sound like serotonin acts like the FIL (feedback inhibitor of 
lactation) protein.

Margaret Wills, IBCLC


  Serotonin Regulates Lactation


    Neurotransmitter prevents overproduction of milk prior to nursing


      Sophie L. Rovner <http://pubs.acs.org/cen/staff/biosw.html>

A new study reports that the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is 
produced in the brain and intestinal tract, is also produced in human 
mammary glands, where it controls milk production and secretion (/Proc. 
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,/ DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708136104).

Studies with human mammary cells and with mice show that the 
concentration of serotonin builds up in mammary glands as they fill with 
milk. The increase in serotonin inhibits further milk synthesis and 
secretion by suppressing expression of milk protein genes, according to 
Nelson D. Horseman 
<http://mcp.uc.edu/index.php?level2=people&level3=609>, professor of 
molecular and cellular physiology at the University of Cincinnati, and 
colleagues. After nursing, the cycle of milk and serotonin production 
begins again.

The researchers note that the presence of so-called serotonin reuptake 
proteins in mammary cells "raises the possibility that selective 
serotonin reuptake inhibitors," which are used to treat depression, 
"could have effects on the breast or milk."

The researchers add that their findings could be used to develop new 
methods to enhance milk production in the dairy industry.


> http://pubs.acs.org/cen/
>
> The magazine Chemical and Engineering News has a close up picture of an
> older baby nursing on it's cover this month, and a very interesting artic=
> le
> about the components of breastmilk (click on "cover story" on the above l=
> ink
> to read the article).
>
> Warmly,
> Fleur Bickford BSc., RN, LLLL
> Ontario, Canada
>   

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