Mammary Development in Gilts at One Week Postnatal Is Related to Plasma Lysine Concentration at 24 h after Birth, but Not Colostrum Dose

Perinatal nutrition affects future milk production. The number of mammary epithelial cells affect milk production capacity. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the level of colostrum intake affects the proliferation rate and the total number of mammary epithelial cells in the gland. The ratio of newly synthesized protein to newly synthesized DNA reflects the relative amount of cellular differentiation to cell division. The study objective was to determine the relationship between the level of colostrum intake and 24 h-level of circulating amino acid, glucose and insulin with mammary parenchyma histological features, cell division and protein synthesis over the first week postnatal. One of two standardized doses of a homogenate colostrum sample, 10% (<i>n</i> = 8) and 20% (<i>n</i> = 8) of birth bodyweight, was fed to gilts over the first 24 h postnatal. Gilts were administered deuterium oxide immediately after birth and daily to label newly synthesized DNA and proteins. Gilts were euthanized on postnatal day seven, and DNA and protein were isolated from mammary parenchyma. DNA and protein fractional synthesis (f) and fractional synthetic rate (FSR) were calculated using mass isotopomer distribution analysis. The ratio of protein f and FSR to DNA f and FSR were calculated and used to indicate the relative amounts of differentiation to cell division. Mammary morphological development was also analyzed by measuring the parenchymal epithelial area and the stromal and epithelial proliferation index on postnatal day seven. Colostrum dose was not related to any of the variables used to evaluate mammary development. However, plasma lysine levels at 24 h postnatal were positively related to average daily gain (ADG; <i>r</i> = 0.54, <i>p</i> = 0.05), DNA f (<i>r</i> = 0.57; <i>p</i> = 0.03) and DNA FSR (<i>r</i> = 0.57; <i>p</i> = 0.03) in mammary parenchyma. Plasma lysine was inversely related to the ratio of protein to DNA f and FSR (<i>r</i> = −0.56; <i>p</i> = 0.04). ADG was related to the parenchymal epithelial area and DNA and protein f and FSR (<i>p</i> < 0.05). These relationships support the idea that the nutritional environment affects early mammary development and that higher lysine levels in the perinatal period favored a greater degree of cell division versus differentiation in mammary of neonatal pigs and thus, warrant further investigations.