Bytautiene Prewit Lab

Research focus

NIH R01 · 2024

Lactation, oxytocin and maternal cardiovascular function later in life

1 ABSTRACT 2 Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in women in the US. Women differ from men in 3 rates and timing of CVD and show a stronger association between CVD and metabolic syndrome. This 4 difference suggests that gender-specific factors may moderate the underlying pathophysiology of CVD. We 5 propose that lactation could be one such women-specific factor. Multiple observational studies have linked 6 breastfeeding with reduced maternal cardiometabolic disease later in life; however, the underlying mechanisms 7 for the beneficial effect of lactation remain unknown. Our central hypothesis is that high levels of oxytocin 8 produced during lactation protect…

From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.