Search results for "nipple"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
The mammary pheromone of the rabbit: from where does it come?
2005
Newborn rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, are directed to their mother's nipples by specialized odour cues. Previous investigations have suggested that these cues are released from the doe's abdominal surface from structures located around the nipple. We tested pups with samples of various cutaneous tissues or fluids collected from lactating females to determine the location of the source of the odour cues. After finding that the nipples from lactating does were more attractive than those of virgin females, we conducted three experiments using skin samples collected at increasing distance from the nipples, dermal and mammary tissues taken below the nipples, and milk collected at different lev…
Human breast areolae as scent organs: morphological data and possible involvement in maternal-neonatal coadaptation.
2006
In humans, areolar skin glands (AG) enlarge during pregnancy and lactation. Their role in mother-infant interactions may pertain to protective, mechanical, and communicative functions. It was questioned here whether more profuse AG could be related to more optimal adaptation to breastfeeding. A morphological study of the areolae was undertaken between birth and day 3 to assess the number, secretory status, and spatial distribution of AG. These data were related to infants' weight variation, mothers' perception of their infant's behavior at breast, and time between delivery and onset of lactation. AG were seen in virtually all women but with great interindividual variations; their areolar di…
Mammary pheromone-induced odour learning influences sucking behaviour and milk intake in the newborn rabbit
2016
Newborn rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, locate their mother's nipples through typical orocephalic movements elicited by odour stimuli, in particular by the mammary pheromone (MP). The MP also promotes neonatal odour learning: after single pairing with the MP, an initially neutral odorant becomes able to elicit sucking-related head-searching/oral-grasping movements. However, the behavioural significance of the MP-induced odour learning remains poorly understood. We carried out three experiments to explore its influence on milk intake and compare its consequences with those resulting from nursing-induced conditioning. First, pups conditioned to an odorant by pairing with the MP on postnatal d…
Chemical and behavioural characterization of the rabbit mammary pheromone.
2003
Mammals owe part of their evolutionary success to the harmonious exchanges of information, energy and immunity between females and their offspring. This functional reciprocity is vital for the survival and normal development of infants, and for the inclusive fitness of parents. It is best seen in the intense exchanges taking place around the mother's offering of, and the infant's quest for, milk. All mammalian females have evolved behavioural and sensory methods of stimulating and guiding their inexperienced newborns to their mammae, whereas newborns have coevolved means to respond to them efficiently. Among these cues, maternal odours have repeatedly been shown to be involved, but the chem…
Mammary odor cues and pheromones: mammalian infant-directed communication about maternal state, mammae, and milk
2010
International audience; Neonatal mammals are exposed to an outstandingly powerful selective pressure at birth, and any mean to alleviate their localization effort and accelerate acceptance to orally grasp a nipple and ingest milk should have had advantageous consequences over evolutionary time. Thus, it is essential for females to display a biological interface structure that is sensorily conspicuous and executively easy for their newborns. Females' strategy to increase the conspicuousness of nipples could only exploit the newborns' most advanced and conserved sensory systems, touch and olfaction, and selection has accordingly shaped tactilely and olfactorily conspicuous mammary structures.…
Orientation of newborn mice to lactating females: Identifying biological substrates of semiochemical interest
2013
International audience; Among mammals, odor-based communication between females and infants is decisive for neonatal survival. So far, the nature of odor substrates involved in the localization of the mother and their nipples is unknown in mice. The present study aims: (1) to evaluate the specific attractive value of lactating females to newborn mice, (2) to localize the abdominal region that is most attractive to pups, and (3) to identify odor substrates that support such attraction. Results showed that 5-6-day-old mice roam preferentially over the abdomen of lactating females than the abdomen of non-lactating females. In lactating females, pups are more attracted to abdominal areas compri…
An overlooked aspect of the human breast: areolar glands in relation with breastfeeding pattern, neonatal weight gain, and the dynamics of lactation.
2012
WOS: 000301474900013; International audience; The early nursing-sucking relationship is not to be taken for granted in humans. A number of factors can either facilitate or mitigate its optimal establishment on the mother's or newborn's sides. Among these factors, a morphological feature of human mothers' breasts--the areolar glands (AG)--has been identified as potentially important. Three day-old infants display attraction during the presentation of the native secretions of the AG, suggesting that they could influence the newborn's behaviour during breastfeeding. The present study assessed this topic in a sample of 121 Caucasian mother-infant dyads. The areolae of these women were screened …
Nipple-sparing mastectomy and breast reconstruction with a deep inferior epigastric perforator flap using thoracodorsal recipient vessels and a low l…
2018
Background Nipple-sparing mastectomy poses challenges in providing esthetically-pleasing immediate autologous breast reconstruction. This study was to investigate the outcomes of nipple-sparing mastectomy with breast reconstruction using free abdominal flaps between two different recipient sites. Methods Between 2010 and 2016, 79 patients who underwent nipple-sparing mastectomy with autologous breast reconstruction using thoracodorsal (TD) vessels in 30 cases or internal mammary (IM) vessels in 49 cases were investigated. Demographics, intraoperative findings, complications, and quality of life using Breast-Q questionnaire were compared between two groups. Results All flap survived. There w…
Neurofibromatosis of the nipple-areolar area : nine case reports
2010
Introduction: Neurofibromatosis type 1 is an autosomal dominant disorder that occurs across all ethnic groups and affects approximately one in 4000 individuals. One of the most noticeable characteristics of the disease is the development of neurofibromas. Case presentation: A total of 258 patients (131 women, 127 men) with neurofibromatosis type 1 were evaluated between 1994 and 2004 in our hospital's dermatology department. Nine patients (3.45%, 95% confidence limits 1.22 to 5.68) had neurofibromas of the breast. One of these nine patients presented with an extensive congenital plexiform neurofibroma in the outer quadrants of her right breast, extending to the nipple-areolar complex. Meanw…
The Secretion of Areolar (Montgomery's) Glands from Lactating Women Elicits Selective, Unconditional Responses in Neonates
2009
Background The communicative meaning of human areolae for newborn infants was examined here in directly exposing 3-day old neonates to the secretion from the areolar glands of Montgomery donated by non related, non familiar lactating women. Methodology/Principal Findings The effect of the areolar stimulus on the infants' behavior and autonomic nervous system was compared to that of seven reference stimuli originating either from human or non human mammalian sources, or from an arbitrarily-chosen artificial odorant. The odor of the native areolar secretion intensified more than all other stimuli the infants' inspiratory activity and appetitive oral responses. These responses appeared to deve…