A study by Page-Wilson and colleagues appeared online in the International Breastfeeding Journal. The authors examined short-term prolactin administration and its affect on milk production.

Current treatments for lactation insufficiency include domperidone and metoclopramide. However these medications can be associated with side effects such as drowsiness and depression, so alternative therapies are needed.

Twenty-one healthy, non-postpartum women with regular menstrual cycles were given a 7-day randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of recombinant human prolactin (r-hPRL).

According to the authors, “Recombinant human prolactin is a potentially new therapy that is available for investigational use; however its biological activity and side effect profile have not been examined.”

The authors chose not to study lactating women because of the enormous changes in bone turnover and the hypoestrogenic state that accompany lactation could not be separated from the effect of prolactin administration itself.

Preliminary results suggest that short-term use of recombinant human prolactin can produce expressible galactorrhea and is not detrimental to bone turnover or menstrual cyclicity.

Studies are now ongoing to determine whether r-hPRL will increase milk production in postpartum mothers with lactation insufficiency and to determine the minimum dosing interval required.