METABOLIC AND HORMONAL ADAPTATION OF RUMINANTS TO UNDERNUTRITION

Abstract

in ruminants, short-term adaptations to undemutrition are more pronounced for
splanchnic organs than for other tissues. For the latter, the long-tenn response
involves a sequential mobilization with relative priorities difiering among anatomical
sites. The body lipids are extensively used in underfed animals, especially during
lactation, or in fat animals. The fat tail depot of some sheep breeds of the Middle-
East regions seems to play a particular role in the adaptation to undemutrition, linked
to its smaller adipocytes and high sensitivity to the lipolytic effect of catecholarnines.
The decrease in energy expenditure during undemutrition is mostly due to a short-
and medium-term decrease in the cost of feeding activity, and in the mass and activity
of splanchnic tissues,