Effects of plasma insulin, glucose and NEFA concentrations of feeding frequency during long term in lambs

Abstract

In ruminants, very little is known about the physiological background of the mechanisms involved in feed intake regulation. Mechanisms that control feed intake exist in ruminants but the exact nature of the control systems are not well understood. For this reason, the effects of different feeding regimens, and the initiation/termination of feeding on blood glucose, insulin, and NEFA were measured in lambs fed once, two times daily and fed ad libitum. To determine insulin hormone influence on feed intake, blood was sampled before 30 minutes of feeding (08:30) and after 1 hour of feeding (10:00) in the morning, and collected 14:00, before 30 minutes of feeding (15:30), after 1 hour feeding (17:00). In the different times fed lambs, plasma insulin levels had a significant change (P<0.05) between groups and between sampling times(P<0.05) but glucose and NEFA levels had no significant changes among groups. We have demonstrated for the first time that modification of feeding regimen could affect plasma insulin levels.