scholarly journals Hyperthyroidism and production of precocious involution in the mammary glands of lactating rats

Reproduction ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 691-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
SM Varas ◽  
EM Munoz ◽  
MB Hapon ◽  
CI Aguilera Merlo ◽  
MS Gimenez ◽  
...  

This study investigated the influence of chronic hyperthyroidism on mammary function in lactating rats and the effects on their pups. Thyroxine-treated (10 microg per 100 g body weight per day; hyperthyroid (HT)) or vehicle-treated rats were mated 2 weeks after the start of treatment and killed with their litters on days 7, 14 and 21 of lactation. Serum concentrations of triiodothyronine (T(3)) and tetraiodothyronine (T(4)) increased in thyroxine-treated rats. In HT mothers, serum prolactin decreased on day 7 and day 14 of lactation, whereas insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and progesterone concentrations decreased, and corticosterone increased on day 7 of lactation. In HT pups, T(4) concentration increased on day 7 and day 14 of lactation, whereas T(3) increased only on day 14 of lactation, and growth hormone increased on day 7 of lactation. Mammary prolactin binding sites did not vary, but there was an increase in the binding sites in the liver on day 14 of lactation in thyroxine-treated rats. In an acute suckling experiment, thyroxine-treated rats released less oxytocin, growth hormone and prolactin and excreted less milk than did control rats. Mammary casein, lactose and total lipid concentrations in thyroxine-treated rats were similar to those of control rats on day 14 of lactation. Histological studies of the mammary glands showed an increased proportion of alveoli showing reduced or no lumina and cells with condensed nuclei on day 14 and day 21 of lactation; the TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) test revealed an increase in apoptosis in alveolar cells on day 21 of lactation in thyroxine-treated rats. Expression of SGP-2, a gene expressed during mammary involution, increased in thyroxine-treated rats on day 14 and day 21 of lactation, whereas expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5, a proapoptotic signal, was unchanged. Bcl-2, which promotes survival of mammary gland epithelial cells was unchanged, whereas expression of IGF-I, which also promotes survival of mammary gland epithelial cells, increased on day 21 of lactation in thyroxine-treated rats. These results indicate that thyroxine treatment produces some milk stasis as a result of impairments in suckling induced release of oxytocin that may initiate the first stage of mammary involution, increasing apoptosis in a gland that is otherwise actively producing and secreting milk.

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (2) ◽  
pp. E223-E231 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Goya ◽  
F. Rivero ◽  
M. A. Martin ◽  
R. Arahuetes ◽  
E. R. Hernandez ◽  
...  

The effect of refeeding and insulin treatment of undernourished and diabetic neonatal rats, respectively, on the regulation of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) was investigated. The changes in body weight, insulinemia, glycemia, serum IGF-I, and growth hormone (GH) as well as the increase of the 30-kDa IGFBP in undernourished and diabetic neonatal rats previously shown elsewhere were reversed by refeeding and insulin treatment, respectively. Also, changes in liver mRNA expression of IGF-I and-II and IGFBP-1 and -2 were restored in refed undernourished and IGF-I and IGFBP-1 levels recovered in insulin-treated diabetic rats. However, serum GH was still below normal after rehabilitation in both situations. Thus the present results support the idea of a GH-independent IGF/ IGFBP regulation mediated by a balance of insulin and nutrients as has already been suggested in previous neonatal studies.


1991 ◽  
Vol 124 (5) ◽  
pp. 602-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben A. A. Scheven ◽  
Nicola J. Hamilton

Abstract. Longitudinal growth was studied using an in vitro model system of intact rat long bones. Metatarsal bones from 18- and 19-day-old rat fetuses, entirely (18 days) or mainly (19 days) composed of chondrocytes, showed a steady rate of growth and radiolabelled thymidine incorporation for at least 7 days in serum-free media. Addition of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-I to the culture media resulted in a direct stimulation of the longitudinal growth. Recombinant human growth hormone was also able to stimulate bone growth, although this was generally accomplished after a time lag of more than 2 days. A monoclonal antibody to IGF-I abolished both the IGF-I and GH-stimulated growth. However, the antibody had no effect on the growth of the bone explants in control, serum-free medium. Unlike the fetal long bones, bones from 2-day-old neonatal rats were arrested in their growth after 1-2 days in vitro. The neonatal bones responded to IGF-I and GH in a similar fashion as the fetal bones. Thus in this study in vitro evidence of a direct effect of GH on long bone growth via stimulating local production of IGF by the growth plate chondrocytes is presented. Furthermore, endogenous growth factors, others than IGFs, appear to play a crucial role in the regulation of fetal long bone growth.


1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Sanchez-Gomez ◽  
Kjell Malmlöf ◽  
Wilson Mejia ◽  
Antonio Bermudez ◽  
Maria Teresa Ochoa ◽  
...  

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of dietary protein level on the protein anabolic effects of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Female growing rats were fed on either a high- or a low-protein diet with crude protein contents of 222 and 83 g/kg respectively. The diets contained the same amount of metabolizable energy (15·1 MJ/kg) and were given during a 14 d period. During the same time, three groups of rats (n 8) on each diet received subcutaneous infusions of either saline, recombinant human GH (rhGH) or recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I). rhGH and rhIGF-I were given in doses of 360 and 500 μg/d respectively. The low-protein diet alone reduced significantly (P < 0·05) IGF-I concentrations in serum and in tissue taken from the gastrocnemius muscle as well as IGF-I mRNA from the same muscle. The responses to rhGH and rhIGF-I in terms of muscle IGF-I and its mRNA were variable. However, when rhIGF-I was infused into rats on the high-protein diet, significantly elevated levels of IGF-I in muscle tissues could be observed. This was associated with a significantly (P < 0·05) increased N balance, whereas rhGH significantly (P < 0·05) enhanced the N balance in rats on the low-protein diet. Thus, it can be concluded that the level of dietary protein ingested regulates not only the effect of IGF-I on whole-body N economy but also the regulation of IGF-I gene expression in muscles. The exact mechanism by which GH exerts its protein anabolic effect, however, remains to be elucidated.


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