Assessment of mammary gland metabolism in the sow. III. Cellular metabolites in the mammary secretion and plasma following weaning.

The concentrations of lactose, glucose, glucose 6-phosphate, glucose 1-phosphate, UDPglucose, UDPgalactose, UDP, UMP, inorganic phosphate, ADP and AMP (metabolites involved in the lactose synthesis pathway), and cAMP, galactose and sodium were measured in the mammary secretion from four or five mammary glands on each of six sows during the first 5 d post weaning. The concentrations of lactose, glucose and galactose were also measured in plasma during this time. Following weaning, the rapid increase in the concentrations of glucose 6-phosphate and UDPgalactose suggested that the rate of lactose synthesis was regulated by the inhibition of hexokinase and/or lactose synthase, while the decrease in glucose and AMP indicated a subsequent decline in glucose and ATP utilization. The rapid increase in glucose 6-phosphate which plays a pivotal role as a substrate for both lactose and de novo fatty acid synthesis, and the rapid decrease in AMP which reflects ATP utilization, were good markers of decreased metabolic activity. These rapid changes in the metabolic activity of the mammary glands were not observed in a second weaning study when two piglets were removed from selected mammary glands for periods up to 5 h during established lactation. Since concentrations of lactogenic hormones remain elevated following partial weaning, but fall following total weaning (Rojkittikhun et al. 1991), these differences in mammary gland metabolism indicate that endocrine rather than autocrine mechanisms are controlling lactose and fat synthesis during the initial stages of total weaning.