Figure 1.

Experimental design. During the adaptation period (14 d), ewe lambs received the same diet, with a daily intake of 3.0% DM/kg BW. After that, ewes were randomly assigned to 2 groups based on the amount of feed offered: ad libitum fed (Ad; daily intake of 3.8% DM/kg BW) or restricted feed intake (R; daily intake of 2.0% DM/kg BW). During the fourth and eighth weeks, after initiation of the diets on Day 0, ewes were treated with PGF2α (to assure the absence of corpus luteum) and received an intravaginal progesterone (P4) controlled internal drug release device (0.33 g of P4) kept for 9 d. On Day 6, another treatment with PGF2α was performed, and on Day 8, blood samples were collected at the following intervals: −0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 h relative to the time the diet was offered (0 h). On Day 9, liver biopsies were performed.