Effects of sustained hyperprolactinemia in late gestation on mammary development of gilts

The objective of this project was to determine the effects of sustained hyperprolactinemia for 7 or 20 d on mammary development in late-pregnant gilts. On day 90 of gestation, gilts were assigned to one of 3 groups to receive intramuscular (IM) injections of (1) canola oil (CTL, n = 18) until day 109 ± 1 of gestation; (2) a dopamine receptor antagonist, domperidone (0.5 mg/kg of body weight [BW]) until day 96 ± 1 of gestation (T7, n = 17); or (3) domperidone (0.5 mg/kg BW) until day 109 ± 1 of gestation (T20, n = 17). Domperidone-treated gilts also received 100 mg of domperidone per os twice daily from days 90 to 93 of gestation. Blood was sampled on days 89, 97, 104, and 110 for prolactin (PRL), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), lactose, urea, and glucose assays. Mammary glands were collected at necropsy, on day 110, for compositional and cell proliferation analyses. Abundance of mRNA for selected genes was also determined in the mammary gland and the pituitary gland. On day 97 of gestation, PRL concentrations were 3 times greater for T20 and T7 than CTL gilts and were also greater for T20 than T7 and CTL gilts on days 104 and 110 (P < 0.001). Concentrations of IGF1 in T20 and T7 gilts were elevated relative to controls on days 97 and 104 and were greater for T20 vs T7 and CTL gilts on day 110 (P < 0.05). There were no treatment effects (P > 0.1) on parenchymal or extraparenchymal tissue weights, or on epithelial proliferation as measured by immunohistochemistry for Ki-67. Treatments did not alter concentrations of dry matter (DM), fat, or DNA (P > 0.1) in parenchyma. Concentrations of RNA (P < 0.05) and protein (P < 0.10) as well as total parenchymal protein, RNA, and DNA (P < 0.05) were lower, or tended to be, in T20 than T7 or CTL gilts. Hyperprolactinemia for 20 d in late gestation increased mRNA abundance of the milk protein genes beta-casein (CSN2) and whey acidic protein (WAP) (P < 0.05) in mammary parenchyma and also decreased mRNA abundance of the long form of the prolactin receptor (PRLR-LF). Increasing PRL concentrations for 7 or 20 d in late gestation had no beneficial effects on the composition of the mammary gland, and sustained exposure to domperidone for 20 d reduced metabolic activity either by a lower expression of the long form of the PRL receptor in mammary parenchymal tissue or, most likely, by the early involution of parenchymal tissue. In conclusion, results do not support the hypothesis that a sustained hyperprolactinemia in late gestation could enhance mammary development of gilts.