>Lisa, in my quest for more knowledge about a hormonal contraceptive which
>contains norgestrel I have learned that this synthetic progesterone has
>"androgenic activity".  If prolactin receptors can be down-regulated by
>excess male hormones, could this be another piece of the puzzle in the POP
>story?  Can you elaborate?  And do you have a journal reference, please?

Pamela,
 I spoke to Dr. Randall Craig, an infertility specialist in Arizona who
also works with induced lactation.  Dr. Craig is the one who told me that
one of the pathologies of PCOS was hyperandrogenism, a male hormone. I
had been speculating that excess estrogen stored in the fat cells of
obese PCOS women might be capping prolactin, but he told me that
androgens can "down-regulate" prolactin *receptors*.  I don't have any
citations for this yet, but am in the processing of digging this info up.
We tend to look at the hormone side, and forget that hormones are a
two-part process requiring receptors in order to have effect.  This has
opened up many new possibilites of pathologies in my mind!

-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC