Perfusion of the isolated mammary gland of the goat

Standing on giant shoulders: a personal recollection of the lives and achievements of eminent animal scientists 1965–2015

This article is a compilation of pieces that are part biographical sketches and part personal recollections of 18 scientists with whom the author was acquainted in three continents over almost 50 years. The subjects, from Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, will be recognisable to many in the field, especially more experienced scientists. For younger scientists, the article also is intended to put a human face on a generation of famous researchers who otherwise would be familiar only as somewhat anonymous authors of classic papers and reviews.

Perspectives on ruminant nutrition and metabolism. II. Metabolism in ruminant tissues

The discovery of the dominance of short-chain fatty acids as energy sources in the 1940s and 1950s, as discussed in part I of this review (Annison & Bryden, 1998) led to uncertainties concerning the interrelationships of glucose and acetate in ruminant metabolism. These were resolved in the following decade largely by use of14C-labelled substrates. Although only small amounts of glucose are absorbed in most dietary situations, glucose availability to ruminant tissues as measured by isotope dilution was shown to be substantial, indicating that gluconeogenesis is a major metabolic activity in both fed and fasted states. Studies with14C-labelled glucose and acetate revealed that in contrast to non-ruminants, acetate and not glucose is the major precursor of long-chain fatty acids in ruminant tissues. Interest in the measurement of energy metabolism in livestock grew rapidly from the 1950s. Most laboratories adopted indirect calorimetry and precise measurements of the energy expenditure of ruminants contributed to the development of new feeding systems. More recently, alternative approaches to the measurement of energy expenditure have included the use of NMR spectroscopy, isotope dilution and the application of the Fick principle to measure O2consumption in the whole animal and in defined tissues. The refinement of the classical arterio-venous difference procedure in the study of mammary gland metabolism in the 1960s, particularly when combined with isotope dilution, encouraged the use of these methods to generate quantitative data on the metabolism of a range of defined tissues. The recent introduction of new methods for the continuous monitoring of both blood flow and blood O2content has greatly increased the precision and scope of arterio-venous difference measurements. The impact of data produced by these and other quantitative procedures on current knowledge of the metabolism of glucose, short-chain fatty acids and lipids, and on N metabolism, is outlined. The role of the portal-drained viscera and liver in N metabolism is discussed in relation to data obtained by the use of multi-catheterized animals. Protein turnover, and the impact of stress (physical, social and disease related) on protein metabolism have been reviewed. The growth of knowledge of mammary gland metabolism and milk synthesis since the first quantitative studies in the 1960s has been charted. Recent findings on the regulation of amino acid uptake and utilization by the mammary gland, and on the control of milk secretion, are of particular interest and importance.

The release and vascular action of bradykinin in the isolated perfused bovine udder

It has been postulated that the mammary kinin system may play a role in modulating mammary blood flow. Until the present study, the local release of bradykinin (BK) or other kinin system constituents into the mammary vasculature had not been reported and there were also conflicting findings on the action of BK on udder vasculature. Udders were removed from healthy lactating cows at slaughter. Pairs of ipsilateral quarters were perfused with Tyrode solution through the external pudendalis artery and drained via the cranial superficial epigastric vein. Mammary secretion was collected through teat cannulae. The perfusion pressure was linearly related to perfusate flux between 60 and 210 ml min(-1) and the flow rate was adjusted (110-150 ml min(-1)) to give a basal pressure of 85 mmHg. PO2, PCO2 and pH in the venous effluent perfusate stabilised at 157 +/- 10 mmHg, 50.1 +/- 2.4 mmHg and 7.1 +/- 0.03, respectively. The venous effluent contained immunoreactive BK and BK precursor, tissue kallikrein activity, and bradykinin-destroying enzyme. The concentration of BK stabilised at 378 +/- 48 pg (ml perfusate)(-1), that of trypsin-activated BK precursor was 679 +/- 59 pg BK equivalents ml(-1) and that of tissue kallikrein, measured as cleavage of D-Val.Leu.Arg-p-nitroanilide (D-Val.Leu.Arg-pNA), was 5.5 +/- 1.7 nmol p-NA h(-1) ml(-1). Arterial infusion of phenylephrine (0.49-490 microM) produced increases in perfusion pressure (vasoconstriction). Acetylcholine (ACh) (0.55-55 microM) and BK (0.1-10 microM) produced only vasodilatation. BK (EC50 = 1.00+/-0.04 microM) was a more potent vasodilator than ACh (EC50 = 9.57+/-0.49 microM). The basal BK concentration was 250 times below the threshold for vasoactivity. The udder produced a milk-like secretion, which was dependent on perfusate flow and contained a concentration of BK which remained unchanged from 60 to 180 min of perfusion (231 +/- 31 pg ml(-1)) unlike that in the venous effluent which doubled between 60 and 120 min. Thus, in addition to its secretion into milk, BK, together with its precursor and tissue kallikrein, is continuously released into the vasculature of the isolated, perfused, lactating bovine udder.

Regulation of blood flow in the mammary microvasculature

Although milk yield of cows and goats is known to be closely related to the total flow of blood through the udder, a number of studies suggest that milk yield can vary independently. No studies have attempted to measure the proportion of total flow that is nutritive. Within the mammary gland, capillary networks form a basket-like architecture surrounding each alveolus. Notably, flow in individual capillaries is not constant and varies among capillaries. Capillary flow (measured by intravital microscopy) was decreased by oxytocin, which generally increased total flow in the mammary artery, suggesting that the proportion of total flow that is nutritive can vary. In addition to classic metabolic regulators (e.g., carbon dioxide and oxygen) of tissue blood flow, the mammary gland produces a number of vasodilatory compounds, including parathyroid hormone-related protein, insulin-like growth factor-I, prostacyclin, nitric oxide, and endothelin. All of these compounds have been shown to alter mammary blood flow. Mammary tissue also contains kallikrein and angiotensin-converting enzyme, which convert circulating kinins and angiotensin, respectively, into potent vasoactive compounds. A number of these compounds are produced by epithelial cells themselves, providing a mechanism for the functioning epithelium to control its own blood supply and, hence, nutrient flow for milk synthesis. In this review, we examine the nature of the mammary microcirculation, its behavior under different conditions, and some of the regulatory features of the mammary microvasculature.

Mathematical analysis of the relationship between blood flow and uptake of nutrients in the mammary glands of a lactating cow

A dynamic mathematical model of blood flow regulation in the mammary glands of a lactating cow was constructed from a principle of local vasodilator release in response to changes in intracellular adenylate charge. An equation was derived to predict uptake of the milk precursors acetate, glucose, amino acids and fatty acids, as affected by mammary blood flow rate. Metabolism of the precursors to milk components and CO2 was simulated with a set of empirically derived equations. Relative rates of ATP production and utilization regulated both the number of perfused capillaries and the conductance of arteriolar segments in the mammary glands. The model simulated local control phenomena of functional and reactive hyperaemia, and simulation of autoregulation under changing arterial pressure suggested a predominance of precapillary sphincter regulation. It was predicted that an increase in blood flow without the mammary capacity to utilize blood metabolites efficiently would be detrimental to milk synthesis. Conversely, increased blood flow through changes in mammary activity resulted in predictions of higher milk production. It was proposed that the equation for uptake, [equation: see text] be used in analysis of mammary arteriovenous differences.

Mammary blood flow and regulation of substrate supply for milk synthesis

In ruminants, mammary supply of substrate varies with rate of mammary blood flow and concentrations of blood substrates. Blood concentrations of most mammary substrates, except acetate and tryptophan, do not vary greatly with feed intake, short term. Fasting reduces mammary blood flow, whereas milking and injection of growth hormone or thyroxine increase flow. It is proposed that the fraction of cardiac output that perfuses the udder of lactating ruminants plays a role in regulation of nutrient partitioning between milk and body tissues. In fed animals this fraction is 15 to 16% of cardiac output, which declines on fasting to 8 to 9% and increases slightly following growth hormone treatment to 17.6%. Following realimentation of fasted cows or goats, mammary blood flow takes several hours to return to normal. Investigation of the mechanism of this response, in terms of the ability of the animal to recognize its nutritional status and partition nutrients accordingly, should prove fruitful to understanding causes of variations of milk production in response to feed quantity and quality. Several substrates show increased mammary arteriovenous difference with increasing blood concentrations. This may reflect differing ratios of blood flow:milk yield. The steep gradient of concentration of substrates across the mammary epithelial cell membrane suggests that a major impediment to substrate supply for milk synthesis is the rate of substrate transport across the membrane.

Mechanism of milk secretion: milk composition in relation to potential difference across the mammary epithelium

1. In conscious lactating goats a significant correlation was found between blood-milk potential difference (p.d.) and milk [lactose] such that in goats with a lower milk [lactose], milk was more negative with respect to blood.2. When mannose was substituted for glucose in the substrate mixture of isolated perfused goat mammary glands, milk yield and milk [lactose] fell while milk [Na] and [K] increased; in parallel experiments the blood-milk p.d. changed such that milk became more negative with respect to blood. These changes were reversed following the addition of glucose.3. When milk was made hypertonic by the addition of hyperosmotic sucrose or lactose solutions, water entered milk osmotically and milk became electrically less negative or even positive with respect to blood in goats, cows and guinea-pigs.4. No effect on p.d. was apparent following the addition of isosmotic sucrose to milk in goats.5. When milk was held in the teat of goats by a pneumatic cuff around the base of the teat, no effect on p.d. was apparent when hyperosmotic sucrose was introduced into this teat pouch.6. It is suggested that waterflow-induced potentials (the streaming potential and the transport number effect) can be induced across the mammary epithelium.7. In goats exogenous oxytocin lowered milk [lactose] and blood-milk p.d. became less negative with respect to blood.8. In non-lactating and mastitic glands of goats the blood-milk p.d. was within 0.5-2.5 mV of zero.9. The effects of oxytocin, and the low p.d. in non-lactating and mastitic glands, are compatible with the view that in such circumstances there is a paracellular pathway across the mammary epithelium which partially short-circuits the two sides.10. It is suggested that, with water being drawn osmotically into milk to dilute newly formed lactose, waterflow-induced potentials may be responsible for establishing the normal p.d. across the apical membrane of the secretary cell, thereby keeping milk [K] and [Na] lower than in intracellular fluid.