Diverse roles of glucocorticoids in the ruminant mammary gland: modulation of mammary growth, milk production, and mastitis

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of the effects of GCs on milk yield in different species.

Species	GCs Sources	Effects on milk yield	Reference
Bovine	Injecting a large dose of dexamethasone	Reduce milk production, milk fat and protein Percentages and decrease milk lactose content	(Ollier et al., 2016) (Ponchon et al., 2017)
	Oral delivery of small doses of flumethasone	Increase milk production	(van der Kolk, 1990)
Goat	Endogenous cortisol	Facilitate milk synthesis	(Bomfim et al., 2022)
	Cortisol (systemic infusion)	Increase milk yield	(Thompson, 1984)
porcine	Lower endogenous cortisol	More successful suckling bouts	(Merlot et al., 2022; Baxter et al., 2023)
Mice	Exogenous addition of Dexamethasone to Mammary epithelial cells	Facilitates both β-casein expression and secretion	(Kobayashi et al., 2017a)
Rat	Injecting dexamethasone	Lower milk secretion	(th, 2001)
	Long-term injection of cortisol-21-acetate	Enhance milk production and retard declines in litter weight gains	(Thatcher & Tucker, 1970)
Human	Elevated endogenous cortisol due to stress	Delay secretory activation of mother’s own milk	(Caparros-Gonzalez et al., 2019)
	Lower cortisol levels during lactation than before pregnancy	Facilitates breastfeeding	(Thayer et al., 2018)

Figure 1. Diverse roles of glucocorticoids on mammary gland of ruminants.

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