Control of glucose metabolism in lactating-rat mammary gland: effects of other substrates, insulin and starvation [proceedings]

Functional differentiation and primary metabolism of mouse mammary epithelial cells in extended-batch and hollow-fiber culture

Growth, expression of functional differentiation (as characterized by synthesis and secretion of milk proteins), and primary metabolism were studied for a mouse mammary epithelial cell line, COMMA-1D, in extended-batch and hollow-fiber reactor cultures. Batch cultures were performed on Costar polycarbonate membrane inserts, allowing basal and apical exposure to medium. Protein production was induced in both batch and hollow-fiber cultures in hormone-supplemented medium. In batch cultures, high levels of protein production and secretion were maintained for 18 days. Once differentiation was induced, the rate of deinduction was low, even in medium containing epidermal growth factor (EGF) and serum; cells continued to express and secrete proteins for at least 12 days after prolactin and hydrocortisone were removed. Cells in both batch and hollow-fiber cultures were highly glycolytic and exhibited low rates of glutaminolysis. In batch culture on membrane inserts, cells showed polarized metabolism between the apical and basal side, maintaining significant gradients of glucose and lactate. Medium hormonal composition and subsequent differentiation affected both glucose uptake and lactate yield for COMMA-1D in batch culture.

Lactation in lean and obese rats: effect of cafeteria feeding and of dietary obesity on milk composition

Changes in milk composition associated with maternal dietary obesity and cafeteria feeding were investigated. Protein, lactose and fat contents, and the fat composition, were determined for lean and obese rats given a cafeteria diet at different stages of reproduction. Feeding the cafeteria diet during lactation resulted in an increase in long-chain fatty acids and a fall in the characteristic medium-chain fatty acids. This effect was modified by obesity and the diet during pregnancy. Feeding the cafeteria diet in lactation reduced the milk protein and increased the fat. The milk of obese rats contained more energy, with more fat but less protein than that of lean rats. Increases in fat and long-chain fatty acid content, and decreases in protein and medium-chain fatty acid content of the milk were correlated with increased maternal intake of energy, total fat and long-chain fatty acids. Thus, the greatest influence on milk composition is exerted by the maternal diet during lactation. However, these effects are modified by pre-existing maternal obesity and the diet during pregnancy.

Evidence that the stimulation of lipogenesis in the mammary glands of starved lactating rats re-fed with a chow diet is dependent on continued hepatic gluconeogenesis during the absorptive period. Effects of a gluconeogenic inhibitory, mercaptopicolinic acid, in vivo

The rapid stimulation of lipogenesis in mammary gland that occurs on re-feeding starved lactating rats with a chow diet was decreased (60%) by injection of mercaptopicolinic acid, an inhibitor of hepatic gluconeogenesis at the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase step. Mercaptopicolinate had no effect on lipogenesis in mammary glands of fed lactating rats. The inhibition of lipogenesis persisted in vitro when acini from mammary glands of re-fed rats treated with mercaptopicolinate were incubated with [1-14C]glucose. Mercaptopicolinate added in vitro had no significant effect on lipogenesis in acini from starved-re-fed lactating rats. Mercaptopicolinate prevented the deposition of glycogen and increased the rate of lipogenesis in livers of starved-re-fed lactating rats, whereas it had no significant effect on livers of fed lactating rats. Administration of intraperitoneal glucose restored the rate of mammary-gland lipogenesis in re-fed rats treated with mercaptopicolinate to the values for re-fed rats. Hepatic glycogen deposition was also restored, and the rate of hepatic lipogenesis was stimulated 5-fold. It is concluded that stimulation of mammary-gland lipogenesis on re-feeding with a chow diet after a period of starvation is in part dependent on continued hepatic gluconeogenesis during the absorptive period. Possible sources of the glucose precursors are discussed.

The utilization of glucose for the synthesis of milk components in the fed and starved lactating goat in vivo

1. [U-14C]Glucose and [3-3H]glucose were infused into fed and starved lactating goats in order to study glucose metabolism in the mammary gland. 2. Glucose carbon was oxidized and metabolizet to milk lactose, citrate and triacylglycerol in the lactating goat udder. 3. Recycling of glucose carbon in the lactating animal accounted for 10-20% of the total glucose turnover in the whole animal. Recycling of glucose 6-phosphate in the udder accounted for about 25% of the glucose 6-phosphate metabolized. 4. Flux of glucose 6-phosphate through the pentose phosphate pathway was sufficient to account for 34% of the NADPH required for fatty acid synthesis in the gland in the fed animal. 5. Net metabolism of glucose 6-phosphate via the pentose phosphate pathway accounted for 17.8 and 1.2% of the glucose phosphorylated by the mammary gland in the fed and starved animal respectively. Metabolism of glucose 6-phosphate via the pentose phosphate pathway was sufficient to account for all the CO2 produced from glucose in the fed animal, but only 17% of the CO2 produced from glucose in the starved animal.

Evidence for a role of insulin in the regulation of lipogenesis in lactating rat mammary gland. Measurements of lipogenesis in vivo and plasma hormone concentrations in response to starvation and refeeding

Fatty acid synthesis in the mammary gland of lactating rats in vivo was 5-fold higher than in the liver. Starvation decreased fatty acid synthesis in the gland 50-fold, whereas refeeding for 2h completely reversed this change. The plasma insulin concentration decreased 2-fold in starvation and was restored to the fed-rat value on refeeding. Glucagon and prolactin concentrations did not always change in parallel with lipogenesis, suggesting that insulin may be a regulator of this process in the gland.