Table 3.

Basal, pre-, and postprandial cortisol concentrations, and AUC with reference to feeding time¹

	Treatment
Variable	T12	T23	T34	SEM	P-value
Time 0, baseline	0.65	0.71	0.67	0.14	0.873
1 hr before feeding	0.65	0.42	0.56	0.09	0.135
1 hr after feeding	0.70a	0.30b	0.45ab	0.08	0.017
3 hr after feeding	0.45	0.32	0.38	0.07	0.429
5 hr after feeding	0.31	0.29	* 5	0.08	0.744
AUC6, ng*h/mL	108.41a	68.65b	83.62ab	13.24	0.036
AUC7, ng*h/mL	156.33a	98.36b	* 5	20.16	0.020

¹Total area under the curve (AUC) was calculated using the trapezoidal summation method.

²Sows received their daily gestation ration once daily at 0730 hours.

³Sows received their daily gestation ration once daily at 1130 hours.

⁴Sows received their daily gestation ration once daily at 1530 hours.

⁵Sow group fed at 1530 hours could not be sampled 5 hr after feeding.

⁶AUC from time 0 to 3 hr after feeding.

⁷AUC from time 0 to 5 hr after feeding.

^abLeast square means within a row with uncommon superscript significantly differ (P < 0.05; Tukey–Kramer adjusted).