Summary
The rates of endochondral bone elongation during pregnancy and lactation in rats have been studied. The rate of growth at the distal femoral epiphyseal growth plate was measured using fluorescent bone markers. Endochondral growth rates were substantially increased in pregnant animals when compared with age-matched, nonmated controls. There were also increases in growth plate thickness, hypertrophic cell lacunar height, and the calculated rate of cell production during pregnancy. At parturition, this growth trend was reversed and during lactation there were significant decreases in endochondral growth rates. There were also corresponding decreases in growth plate thickness, hypertrophic cell lacunar height, and the calculated rate of cartilage cell production. These results indicate that significant changes occur in maternal endochondral growth rates during the reproductive cycle in rats.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chawla RK, Parks JS, Rudman D (1983) Structural variants of human growth hormone: biochemical, genetic, and clinical aspects. Annu Rev Med 34:519–547
Madsen K, Friberg U, Roos P, Eden S, Isaksson O (1983) Growth hormone stimulates the proliferation of cultured chondrocytes from rabbit ear and rat rib growth cartilage. Nature 304:545–547
Reiter EO (1983) The somatomedins: involvement in growth processes and disorders. Compr Ther 9:45–55
Herington AC, Cornell HJ, Kuffer AD (1983) Recent advances in the biochemistry and physiology of the insulin-like growth factor/somatomedin family. Int J Biochem 15:1201–1210
Whitson SW, Dawson LR, Jee WSS (1978) A tetracycline study of cyclic longitudinal bone growth in the female rat. Endocrinology 103:2006–2010
Bomboy JD, Burkhalter VJ, Nicholson WE, Salmon WD (1983) Similarity of somatomedin inhibitor in sera from starved, hypophysectomized, and diabetic rats: distinction from a heat-stable inhibitor of rat cartilage metabolism. Endocrinology 112:371–377
Krabbe S, Christensen C, Rodbro P, Transbol I (1979) Effect of puberty on rates of bone growth and mineralisation. Arch Dis Child 54:950–953
Hill DJ, Francis MJO, Milner RDG (1977) Action of rat prolactin on plasma somatomedin levels in the rat and on somatomedin release from perfused rat liver. J Endocrinol 75:137–143
Cohen M, Stiefel M, Reddy WJ, Laidlaw JC (1958) The secretion and disposition of cortisol during pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 18:1076–1092
Hurley TW, D'Ercole AJ, Handwerger S, Underwood LE, Furlanetto RW, Fellows RE (1977) Ovine placental lactogen induces somatomedin: a possible role in fetal growth. Endocrinology 101:1635–1638
Freemark M, Handwerger S (1983) Ovine placental lactogen, but not growth hormone, stimulates amino acid transport in fetal rat diaphragm. Endocrinology 112:402–404
Furlanetto RW, Underwood LE, Van Wyk JJ, Handwerger S (1978) Serum immunoreactive somatomedin-C is elevated late in pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 47:695–698
Wilson DM, Bennett A, Adamson GD, Nagashima RJ, Liu F, DeNatale ML, Hintz RL, Rosenfeld RG (1982) Somatomedins in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study of insulin-like growth factors I and II and somatomedin peptide content in normal human pregnancies. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 55:858–861
Miller SC, Jee WSS (1975) Ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonate (EHDP) effects on growth and modeling of the rat tibia. Calcif Tissue Res 18:215–231
Thorngren KG, Hansson LI (1973) Cell kinetics and morphology of the growth plate in the normal and hypophysectomized rat. Calcif Tissue Res 13:113–139
Rosner B (1982) Fundamentals of biostatistics. Duxbury Press, Boston
Prader A, Zachmann M (1978) Treatment of excessively tall girls and boys with sex hormones. Pediatrics 62:1202–1210
Schoenle E, Zapf J, Humbel RE, Froesch ER (1982) Insulin-like growth factor I stimulates growth in hypophysectomized rats. Nature 296:252–253
Contopoulos AN, Simpson ME (1957) Increased growth-promoting substance in the plasma of pregnant rats. Endocrinology 61:765–773
Yen SSC, Vela P, Tsai CC (1970) Impairment of growth hormone secretion in response to hypoglycemia during early and late pregnancy. J Clin Endocrinol 31:29–32
Daughaday WH, Kapadia M (1978) Maintenance of serum somatomedin activity in hypophysectomized pregnant rats. Endocrinology 102:1317–1320
Tonkowicz PA, Voogt JL (1983) Examination of rat placental lactogen and prolactin at 6-hour intervals during midpregnancy. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 173:583–587
Bammann BL, Coulam CB, Jiang NS (1980) Total and free testosterone during pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 137:293–298
Castracane VD, Goldzieher JW (1983) Plasma androgens during early pregnancy in the baboon (Papio cyknocephalus). Fertil Steril 39:553–559
Luna AM, Wilson DM, Wibbelsman CJ, Brown RC, Nagashima RJ, Hintz RL, Rosenfeld RG (1983) Somatomedins in adolescence: a cross-sectional study of the effect of puberty on plasma insulin-like growth factor I and II levels. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 57:268–271
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Redd, E.H., Miller, S.C. & Jee, W.S.S. Changes in endochondral bone elongation rates during pregnancy and lactation in rats. Calcif Tissue Int 36, 697–701 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02405392
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02405392