Growth hormone and mammary gland lobule-alveolar development

¹ Division of Physiology, University of Tennessee Medical Units, Memphis, Tennessee

The effect of growth hormone on mammary gland lobule-alveolar growth in the ovariectomized rat was studied using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the abdominal-inguinal glands as an index of the degree of cellular proliferation. The administration of 1 mg growth hormone in combination with 2 µg estradiol benzoate for 19 days resulted in alveolar formation and an increase in mammary DNA content above that resulting from injections of either hormone alone. The mean DNA concentration of glands of rats treated with 2 µg estradiol, 6 mg progesterone, 3 µg/100 g l-thyroxine, and 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg growth hormone was significantly greater than that of animals receiving only the estradiol, progesterone, and thyroxine. The increase in the mean DNA content was due to a shift in the range of values to a higher plane and did not result from an elevated DNA in only a few animals. It is suggested that the administration of growth hormone during the growth phase of the mammary gland may have a beneficial effect on the subsequent lactation.