An energy-rich diet causes rumen papillae proliferation associated with more IGF type 1 receptors and increased plasma IGF-1 concentrations in young goats.

We tested the hypothesis that the dietary energy-dependent alterations of the rumen papillae size are accompanied by corresponding changes in systemic insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 concentration and in rumen papillary IGF type 1 receptors (IGF-1R). Young male goats (n=24) were randomly allocated to two groups (n=12) and fed a high level (HL) metabolizable energy [1200 kJ/(kg(0.75).