DEFICIENT LACTATION BY SPONTANEOUS CENTRAL HYPOPROLACTINEMIA IN OFA RATS ALTERS LYMPHOID ORGANS AND INCREASES NATURAL ANTIBODIES IN THE OFFSPRING

SANCHEZ MB; MICHEL LARA, MC; VIRUEL, L.B.; RODRIGUEZ-CAMEJO C; NEIRA FJ; PIETROBON EO; SOAJE M; HERNANDEZ A.; VALDEZ SR; MACKERN-OBERTI JP

San Luis

Congreso; LXXI ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ARGENTINEAN SOCIETY OF IMMUNOLOGY (SAI); 2023

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología

Prolactin is a lactogenic hormone that plays a vital role in developing themammary epithelium and synthesizing milk for proper breastfeeding. Maternalmilk is an excellent source of bioactive components, immune factors, hormones,and nutrients vital for the offspring´s development. Our laboratory has worked formany years with an experimental model of deficient breastfeeding in ratsassociated with low prolactin levels (hypoprolactinemia or hypoP) during earlylactation, known as Oncins France Colony A (OFA). Our work aimed to evaluatethe influence of hypoP on milk quality and bioactive components and whether thisaffects offspring´s developmental and immunological parameters in earlylactation. To this end, 12-week-old Sprague Dawley (SD- control group n=7) andOFA (hypoP group n=12) rats were mated and euthanized on day 2 of lactation(L2). Serum, spleen, milk, and mammary glands from dams and offspring serum,and several organs were obtained for further analysis. Prolactin serum levelswere analyzed by RIA. Total IgG and IgG2a in maternal serum and milk andoffspring serum were analyzed by ELISA. Moreover, natural IgG anti-DNP(dinitrophenols) was evaluated in offspring and L2 dam serum. Milk nutritionalcomponents like total proteins, reducing sugars (lactose), caloric value, and fatcontent were measured. Also, histological analysis of the mammary gland wasperformed, and offspring developmental parameters were evaluated on L2. Ourresults show that OFA rats had lower prolactin levels than SD rats (p