Mj. Davicco et al., PARATHYROID HORMONE-RELATED PEPTIDE MAY INCREASE MAMMARY BLOOD-FLOW, Journal of bone and mineral research, 8(12), 1993, pp. 1519-1524
Amino-terminal fragments of PTHrP were previously shown to increase re
gional blood flow in laboratory animals. Since PTHrP is produced in th
e lactating mammary gland and associated nutrient vessels, we examined
the effects of peptide fragments of PTHrP on the hemodynamics of the
mammary gland of dried sheep. The left arterial mammary blood flow mea
sured using ultrasonic flow probes in four dried Lacaune ewes was 233
+/- 11 ml/minute. It was significantly increased when synthetic human
PTHrP-(1-34) or (1-86) fragments were injected into the mammary artery
. The effect was dose dependent for PTHrP-(1-34), varying between 0.00
75 and 0.3 nmol/kg body weight. PTHrP-(140-173) fragment lacked any va
sorelaxant activity. Synthetic human endothelin (ET1) decreased arteri
al blood flow in a dose-dependent manner. This decrease was inhibited
by PTHrP-(1-34), and this inhibition was PTHrP dose related. When ET1
(10 pmol/kg body weight) was injected together with PTHrP-(1-86) (100
pmol/kg body weight), only a significant increase in mammary blood flo
w was observed. Thus, PTHrP produced by the lactating mammary gland ma
y be involved in the regulation of mammary blood flow.