Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-20T04:47:10.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of fasting during mid pregnancy or early lactation on mammary development and milk yield in mice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

Christopher H. Knight  and
Malcolm Peaker
Christopher H. Knight
Affiliation:
Hannah Research Institute, Ayr, Scotland, KA6 5HL
Malcolm Peaker
Affiliation:
Hannah Research Institute, Ayr, Scotland, KA6 5HL
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Mice were fasted during pregnancy or early lactation and the effects on mammary development and milk yield studied on d 13 and d 18 of pregnancy and on d 7 of lactation. Fasting during pregnancy reduced body weight and mammary weight on d 13 of pregnancy but not on d 18. Mammary concentrations and total contents of DNA and RNA ([DNA], [RNA], DNAt, RNAt) were increased or unchanged on d 13 but significantly decreased on d 18. Fasting had no effect on fetal number or weight at either stage of pregnancy. Fasting on d 1 of lactation reduced mammary weight, DNAt and RNAt (but not [DNA] or [RNA]) and the incorporation of tritiated thymidine into DNA on d 2 of lactation. Mammary gland weight and composition on d 7 of lactation were not significantly affected by fasting for 24 h on d 1 of lactation or for 40 h on d 11–13 of pregnancy, except that DNAt was decreased slightly by the latter treatment.

Milk yield (litter weight gain) was depressed markedly during fasting on d 1 of lactation, but thereafter recovered so that it was the same as controls between d 3 and 13 of lactation; after d 13 it fell once more. A 40 h fast on d 11–13 of pregnancy had no effect on milk yield. Thus, although normal mammary development was inhibited by starvation, the gland was subsequently able to compensate so that milk yield was not reduced.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , November 1982 , pp. 567 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Carrick, D. T. & Kuhn, N. J. 1978 Diurnal variation and response to food withdrawal of lactose synthesis in lactating rats. Biochemical Journal 174 319–325CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flatt, W. P. & Moe, P. W. 1974 Nutritional requirements for lactation. In Lactation: a comprehensive treatise vol. 3 pp. 311–347 (Eds Larson, B. L. and Smith, V. R.). New York: Academic PressGoogle Scholar
Girard, J. R., Ferré, P., Gilbert, M., Kervran, A., Assan, R. & Marliss, E. B. 1977 Fetal metabolic response to maternal fasting in the rat. American Journal of Physiology 232 E456–E463Google ScholarPubMed
Knight, C. H. & Peaker, M. 1982 a Mammary cell proliferation in mice during pregnancy and lactation in relation to milk yield. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 67 165–177CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, C. H. & Peaker, M. 1982 b Mammary development in mice: effects of hemihysterectomy in pregnancy and of litter size post partum. Journal of Physiology 327 17–27CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knopp, R. H., Herrera, E. & Freinkel, J. 1970 Carbohydrate metabolism in pregnancy. VIII. Metabolism of adipose tissue isolated from fed and fasted pregnant rats during late gestation. Clinical Investigation 49 1438–1446CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lederman, S. A. & Rosso, P. 1981 Effects of fasting during pregnancy on maternal and fetal weight and body composition in well-nourished and under-nourished rats. Journal of Nutrition 111 1823–1832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pyska, H. & Styczyński, H. 1979 a Effect of various protein levels in the diet on mammary gland growth in rats. Journal of Dairy Research 46 551–554CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pyska, H. & Styczyński, H. 1979 b Effect of dietary protein level during pregnancy and 2 weeks of lactation on mammary gland growth in rats. Journal of Dairy Research 46 687–689CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, A. M. & Williamson, D. H. 1977 Comparison of glucose metabolism in the lactating mammary gland of the rat in vivo and in vitro. Effects of starvation, prolactin or insulin deficiency. Biochemical Journal 164 153–159CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rook, J. A. F. & Thomas, P. C. 1980 Principles involved in manipulating the yields and concentrations of constituents of milk. In Factors affecting the yields and contents of milk constituents of commercial importance. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation Document 125 pp. 66–72Google Scholar
Rosso, P., Keyou, G., Bassi, J. A. & Slussber, W. M. 1981 Effect of malnutrition during pregnancy on the development of the mammary glands of rats. Journal of Nutrition 111 1937–1941CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sbjrsen, K. 1978 Mammary development and milk yield in relation to growth rate in dairy and dual-purpose heifers. Acta Agricultural Scandinavica 28 41–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sejrsen, K., Akers, R. M., Fitzgerald, E. M., Tucker, H. A. & Huber, J. T. 1980 Effect of plane of nutrition on mammary development pre- and postpuberty. Journal of Dairy Science 63 (Suppl. 1) 125Google Scholar
Srivastava, L. S. & Turner, C. W. 1966 Restricted feed consumption and its effect on mammary gland growth. Journal of Dairy Science 49 1050–1052CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sykes, J. F., Wrenn, T. R. & Hall, S. R. 1948 The effect of inanition on mammary-gland development and lactation. Journal of Nutrition 35 467–476CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed