Addition of Fat to Diets of Lactating Sows: II. Effects on Energy Mobilization and Hormone-Sensitive Lipase Activity

The effect of dietary fat intake on the ability of the lactating sow to mobilize energy from adipose tissue fat was examined. Sows had ad libitum access to diets formulated to contained 1% lysine and either zero or 10% tallow. Data from two epinephrine challenges indicated sows fed tallow tended to have higher baseline concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and lower stimulated release of NEFA in response to epinephrine than did control sows. Because baseline glycerol values did not differ between treatments, we interpreted this to suggest control sows tended to re-esterify (recycle) a greater portion of the fatty acids during unstimulated (no epinephrine treatment) conditions. This is in agreement with the finding that dietary fat did not affect hormone-sensitive lipase activity on day 21 of lactation