Effect of Restraint Stress and Anxietyon Milk Production in Female Westar Rats

Abstract

There has been study on quality of breast-milk per feeding, exclusive breastfeeding but little or nothing on the effect of stress on milk production. This study was carried out to determine the effect of restraint stress and anxiety on milk production using animal model.20 female and 10 male Wistarrats were used for the study. The female rats were caged with mature males in the ratio 5 females to 2 males for two weeks. On delivery, the female rats were separated into their own cages. Each dam in a cage with adequate water and food. The experimental stressor was restraint stress (RSx1) for one hour on day 21. Rats were restrained in a customized Plexiglas Restrainer for restraint stress. After delivery and prior to exposure to physical restraint stressors, the pups of each dam and the dams were weighed using a digital weighing scale with 0.1g precision. These weights were recorded. The dams from each group were euthanized and their blood samples were collected in a plain test tube for hormonal assay using ELISA technique.The results showed that the rats which were subjected to restraint stress showed an increase in milk production compared to the control group (P≤0.05). In the control group the milk yield is 51.3ng/ml, which was relatively low compared to that of group four (the group that underwent restraint stress for 18 days) which is 291.7ng/ml. Hormonal assay showed  elevations of prolactin and oxytocin level (P ≤0.05).This study suggest the relationship between maternal stress and breastfeeding.