The contribution of glucose absorbed from the small intestine to whole-body glucose metabolism was examined in ewes during late pregnancy and early lactation, using diets based on ground barley or ground maize. Glucose and L-lactate turnover in the whole body and the mesenteric-drained viscera were investigated in these ewes using isotope dilution techniques. The net absorption of glucose by the mesenteric-drained viscera and whole-body glucose turnover were unaffected by diet or reproductive status. Arterial and mesenteric venous blood glucose concentrations, arterial and mesenteric venous L-lactate concentrations and whole-body lactate turnover were all significantly higher in lactation than in pregnancy. The whole-body rates of lactate conversion to glucose and to other products were significantly higher in lactation than in pregnancy. Using a two-pool model of whole-body glucose and lactate metabolism, a relatively high percentage of glucose was converted to lactate (64-84%), accounting for 60-80% of whole-body lactate turnover. A model of glucose and lactate metabolism by the mesenteric-drained viscera was constructed. Both the calculated endogenous glucose production and the visceral conversion of glucose to lactate were greater in lactation than in pregnancy when barley was fed. Calculated total glucose absorption was relatively constant, contributing between 26 and 59% of whole-body glucose turnover. Diet had little effect on glucose and lactate metabolism in either the mesenteric-drained viscera or the whole-body of breeding ewes.

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