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Updated: Sep 14, 2026

Evaluation of Mammary Gland Development and Function in Mouse Models
08:51

Evaluation of Mammary Gland Development and Function in Mouse Models

Published on: July 21, 2011

Insulin-like growth factors in milk and mammary gland

C G Prosser1

  • 1AgResearch, Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand. ProsserC@Agresearch.cri.nz

Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia
|July 1, 1996
PubMed

Milk contains insulin-like growth factor I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) and four IGF binding proteins (IGFBP). Their concentrations are highest prepartum and early postpartum, coinciding with maximal proliferation of mammary cells and the time when the infant gut is the least developed. This has lead to the suggestion that IGFs may be important for the growth and development of the mammary gland and that IGFs in milk play a role in promoting development of the gastrointestinal tract of the newborn. IGF-I and, to a lesser extent, IGF-II can stimulate milk yield and blood flow in goats when infused directly into the mammary gland, suggesting they may also be important in supporting established lactation. Thus IGFs may have a dual function in the mammary gland, establishing and maintaining the maternal mammary system and, once secreted into milk, supporting gastrointestinal development in the newborn.

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