Feed intake and rumen motility in dwarf goats. Effects of some alpha 2-adrenergic agonists, prostaglandins and posterior pituitary hormones.

The purpose of the present investigation was to test the hypothesis that drug-induced changes in rumen contractions influence feed intake in dwarf goats. Intravenous (i.v.) administration of clonidine (1 microgram kg-1 min-1 for 10 min), xylazine (1 microgram kg-1 min-1 for 10 min), and PGF-2 alpha (10 micrograms kg-1 min-1 for 15 min) caused bradycardia and inhibition of rumen contractions. However, no appetite-stimulating effect of these drugs was observed. Other clinical changes induced by the alpha-adrenergic agonists included slight sedation and a decrease in body temperature; all clinical effects of clonidine and xylazine were partly antagonized by tolazoline pretreatment (10 micrograms kg-1 min-1 for 30 min). These results suggest that the CNS control of feeding differs in ruminants and monogastric species. In dwarf goats fasted for 2 h, i.v. administration of oxytocin (0.01 IU kg-1 min-1 for 15 min), vasopressin (0.01 IU kg-1 min-1 for 15 min), octapressin (0.003 IU kg-1 min-1 for 15 min) or PGE1 (0.8 microgram kg-1 min-1 for 15 min) did not change feeding behaviour during the two observation periods (0-30 min and 180-210 min after drug infusion, respectively). In previous studies, similar doses of these drugs induced changes in heart rate and inhibition of rumen contraction in goats. These findings demonstrate that drug-induced changes in forestomach contractions do not simply cause changes in feeding behaviour. The i.v. infusion of the PGF 2 alpha analogues etiproston (10 micrograms kg-1 min-1 for 15 min), luprostiol (30 micrograms kg-1 min-1 for 15 min), cloprostenol (1 microgram kg-1 min-1 for 15 min) and tiaprost (1 microgram kg-1 min-1 for 15 min) induced hypophagic effects and stimulated intestinal propulsion.