Glucose Turnover Rates in Pregnant and Non-pregnant Sheep

SHEEP are prone to a severe hypoglycæmia and ketosis during twin-pregnancy 1 . Since very little glucose is absorbed from the ruminant digestive tract 2 and since hexose concentrations and requirements of the sheep fœtus seem to be high 3 , it has often been inferred that pregnant sheep are normally in a precarious state of glucose balance. Until recently, however, few quantitative data have been available on glucose metabolism in pregnant sheep.