Abstract
Lifetime milk production is maximized when dairycows are pregnant during approximately 70% of eachlactation. Between lactations, a nonlactating period isnecessary for optimal milk production in the succeeding lactation. With cessation of milking, alveolarstructure is largely maintained and little or no loss ofcells occurs. However, increased apoptosis and cellproliferation, relative to that in lactating glands during the same stage of gestation, suggestthat a nonlactating period serves to promote cellturnover prior to the next lactation. Even in theabsence of pregnancy, mammary involution in dairyanimals occurs at a slower rate than in rodents;alveolar structure is maintained for several weeks andlactation can be reinitiated after four weeks or more ofinvolution. Although apoptosis appears to be initiated within a similar time frame to that in rodents,the maximum proportion of apoptotic epithelial cellsappears to be lower than in rodents, and apoptosis maybe accompanied by an initial increase in cell proliferation. The ability to manipulateapoptosis and cell proliferation during the nonlactatingperiod and during lactation is expected to provideenormous benefits to the dairy industry.
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Capuco, A.V., Akers, R.M. Mammary Involution in Dairy Animals. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 4, 137–144 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018769022990
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018769022990