In utero hyperthermia in late gestation derails dairy calf early-life mammary development

Prenatal hyperthermia has immediate and long-term consequences on dairy cattle growth, immunity, and productivity. While changes in the molecular architecture are reported in the mature mammary gland (MG), any influence on early-life mammary development is unknown. Herein, we characterize the impact of late-gestation in utero heat stress on heifer mammary gross and cellular morphology at early-life developmental stages (i.e., birth and weaning). During summer, pregnant dams were exposed to environmental heat stress (shade of a free-stall barn) or offered active cooling (shade, fans, and water soakers) for 54 ± 5 d before parturition (avg. temperature–humidity index = 79). Heifer calves born to these dams were either in utero heat-stressed (IU-HT; n = 36) or in utero cooled (IU-CL; n = 37) and were managed as a single cohort thereafter. A subset of heifers was euthanized at birth (d0; n = 8/treatment; 4.6 ± 2.3 h after birth) and after weaning (d63; n = 8/treatment; 63.0 ± 1.5 d) to harvest the whole MG. An ultrasound of rear mammary parenchyma (MPAR) was taken prior to d63 and correlated to harvested MPAR cross-sectional area and weight. Portions of mammary fat pad (MFP) and MPAR were preserved for compositional and histological analysis, including ductal structure number and cross-sectional area, connective tissue area, and adipocyte number and cross-sectional area. Cellular proliferation in MPAR was assessed via Ki-67 immunohistochemistry. Relative to IU-CL heifers, the MGs of IU-HT heifers were shorter in length at d0 and d63 (P ≤ 0.02). There were moderate correlations between d63 ultrasound and harvest measures. The IU-HT heifers had reduced MG and MFP mass at d0 and d63 (P ≤ 0.05), whereas MPAR mass was reduced only at d0 (P = 0.01). IU-HT heifers had greater MPAR protein and DNA content at d63 (P ≤ 0.04), but there were no MFP compositional differences (P ≥ 0.12). At d0, IU-HT heifers had fewer MPAR ductal structures (P ≤ 0.06), but there were no differences at d63. Yet, MPAR luminal and total ductal structure cross-sectional areas of IU-HT heifers were reduced at both d0 and d63 (P ≤ 0.01). The MFP adipocytes of IU-HT heifers were smaller at d0 (P ≤ 0.01), but differences were not detected at d63. The IU-HT heifers had diminished MPAR total, stromal, and epithelial cellular proliferation at both d0 and d63 (P < 0.01). Prenatal hyperthermia derails dairy calf early-life mammary development with potential carry-over consequences on future synthetic capacity.