Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Peptide-YY (PYY) is a satiety hormone secreted by the colon. We have previously shown that PYY significantly increases in early lactation in rats, despite hyperphagia. Increased PYY may be associated with significantly increased gut growth by late lactation in dams with average-sized litters. Our aim was to determine whether feeding different litter sizes influences postpartum changes occurring during the maternal adaptation to lactation.Ma...

Introduction: Pregnancy and lactation result in increasing maternal appetite and adiposity, which in humans may lead to long-term weight retention. Previous studies in this area are limited, but some suggest that the appetite-inhibiting (anorexigenic) gut hormone peptide-YY (PYY) is increased in lactation, despite hyperphagia. This work characterised changes in orexigenic (appetite-stimulating) ghrelin and anorexigenic PYY and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) and gut architectur...

Introduction: Previous studies have established that litter size during lactation influences body size and adiposity in male rat pups, but female pups and appetite-regulatory hormones have not been studied in this way. Gastrointestinal hormones ghrelin and peptide-YY (PYY) have roles in appetite regulation: high ghrelin levels signal hunger high PYY levels signal satiety. Both hormones are also associated with altered body mass and body composition. Previous findings (SRF 2014...

Introduction: It is understood that active agents in seminal fluid are key to initiating and coordinating mating-induced immunomodulation. This study aimed to characterise the structure of a network of cytokines whose interactions are thought to underpin this process in rats and mice.Methods: Seminal fluid, collected from isolated seminal glands, and serum, collected by cardiac puncture, were obtained from sexually mature Wistar rats (n=20) and ...