The effects of mammalian prolactin and growth hormone on goldfish (Carassius auratus) growth, plasma amino acid levels and liver amino acid uptake

Effect of growth hormone on muscle protein synthesis in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

This paper reports on the effect of administration of mammalian growth hormone (GH) on muscle protein synthesis as measured in white muscle using the phenylalanine flooding technique. The effect of exogenous GH was compared with that of insulin and prolactin, and with endogenous GH.The rate of protein synthesis in white muscle of rainbow trout 6 h after the injection of bovine GH or bovine insulin was twice (2.6 and 2.9% d(-1)) that of the control saline-injected fish (1.2% d(-1)). A metabolic effect of GH, as observed with insulin, is suspected.The rates of change in body weight and body length and the fractional rate of protein synthesis in muscle of rainbow trout were enhanced by mammalian GH administration. The effect of GH on muscle RNA/protein ratios was not significant. An opposite effect of antibodies against salmon GH (Lebailet al. 1989) on growth rate and muscle protein synthesis rate was found in rainbow trout. It is suggested that the effects of exogenous and endogenous GH on capacity and efficiency of muscle protein synthesis were similar.The long-term effects of mammalian GH on presmolt Atlantic salmon was also tested. The same trends were found with ovine prolactin supplementation in Atlantic salmon but not as high as those observed with ovine GH.

Developmental expression of the growth hormone gene in the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata

Expression of growth hormone (GH) gene during early stages of larval development of the teleost Sparus aurata was determined by Northern blot analysis. Poly(A+) RNA was prepared from a pool of larvae collected on different days after hatching. When hybridized to Sparus aurata GH cDNA, GH specific mRNA was first seen on day 6 post-hatching. In contrast, the levels of beta-actin mRNA, which was used to normalize for RNA amounts, were already high on the day of hatching. Our results suggest that expression of the GH gene is very low immediately after hatching, and increases dramatically within 6 days.

Presence of prolactin receptors in eel liver and carp kidney and growth hormone receptor in eel liver

1. 125I-labelled ovine prolactin and bovine growth hormone were used to test for the presence of prolactin and growth hormone receptors in membrane prepared from tissues of the white eel Anguilla japonica, the carp Ctenopharynogodon idellus and the ricefield eel Monopterus albus. 2. High levels of specific 125I-labelled ovine prolactin binding were found in white eel liver membranes and carp kidney membranes. 3. High levels of specific 125I-labelled bovine growth hormone binding were detected in white eel liver membranes. 4. Tissues of the ricefield eel did not bind 125I-labelled ovine prolactin or bovine growth hormone. 5. The results suggest the presence of prolactin receptors in white eel liver and carp kidney membranes and growth hormone receptors in white eel liver membranes.

Metabolic effects of bovine growth hormone in the tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus

1. Bovine growth hormone (bGH) was injected into tilapia intramuscularly at a dose of 50 micrograms/100 g/day for a total of five injections. Control fish received saline instead. 2. The serum concentrations of amino acid and glucose were significantly higher and hepatic glycogen concentration and glycogen synthetase activity significantly lower in the bGH-treated fish than those in the control fish. 3. The serum concentrations of protein, lipid and cholesterol, and the hepatic concentrations of protein and lipid, remained unaltered after bGH treatment. 4. The results suggest that bGH exerts anti-insulin effects in tilapia.

Effects of recombinant eel growth hormone on the uptake of [35S]sulfate by ceratobranchial cartilages of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica

Effects of growth hormone (GH) on the synthesis of mucopolysaccharide by ceratobranchial cartilages of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, were examined by monitoring the in vitro uptake of [35S]sulfate. The [35S]sulfate uptake decreased rapidly to one-third of the initial level during the first 3 days after hypophysectomy, and decreased gradually thereafter. When hypophysectomized eels were injected intramuscularly with recombinant eel GH (2 micrograms/g), the plasma GH concentrations increased maximally after 6 hr, and declined rapidly thereafter. On the other hand, the sulfate uptake increased significantly after 12 hr, and high levels were maintained until 48 hr. The stimulating effect of GH was dose dependent (0.02-2 micrograms/g). However, the addition of eel GH (0.05-5 micrograms/ml) to the culture medium did not affect the sulfate uptake by hypophysectomized eel cartilages, suggesting that the stimulative action of GH on the sulfate uptake by the cartilages is indirect.

Interaction between ovine growth hormone and triiodo-L-thyronine on metabolic reserves of rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri

Rainbow trout (Salmo gairneri) were given slow-release coconut oil implants which contained triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) and were subsequently administered ovine growth hormone (oGH) (either 0.24 or 2.5 μg/g body weight) or saline every seventh day for four injections. The purpose of the study was to examine the interactions between oGH and T3 on several aspects of the metabolism in rainbow trout.Trout treated with T3 alone had higher carcass water content, lower liver glycogen, higher plasma T3 levels and lower plasma cholesterol, triglyceride and protein levels compared with the controls implanted with coconut oil implants alone. Trout treated with oGH alone had higher condition factors, lowered carcass total lipid content, elevated liver lipid and RNA content, and elevated plasma T3 and L-thyroxine (T4) levels compared with the coconut oil-implanted and saline-injected controls. Trout treated with T3 and oGH had lower liver glycogen content, higher plasma T3 and fatty acid levels and lower plasma T4, cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with the controls given coconut oil implants and saline injections alone. There were no apparent effects of either hormone alone or in combination on liver: body mass ratios, liver DNA content, liver RNA:DNA ratios, liver RNA:protein ratios, liver protein:DNA ratios and liver protein content.The data suggest an interaction between oGH and T3 as regards the regulation of condition factor, carcass water content, carcass and liver total lipid content, liver RNA content, plasma fatty acid and plasma protein content.

31P-nuclear-magnetic-resonance study of muscles from Mytilus edulis

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were recorded from freshly excised and resting anterior byssus retractor muscles of the mussel Mytilus edulis. The absolute concentrations of phosphometabolites measured by NMR compare well with the values obtained by a biochemical method. Quantitative measurements were achieved in several minutes by applying to the observed NMR signals a correction taking the saturation effects into account. The time evolution of the phosphometabolite concentrations reveals that the hydrolysis of phosphoarginine is a first-order reaction producing inorganic phosphate, whilst the adenosine triphosphate level remains constant for more than 10 h. The phosphoarginine hydrolysis rate varies as a function of the season and reaches a maximum during the reproduction period of the mussel. This increase in phosphoarginine consumption could be bound up with the higher excitability of the muscles during spring. The activation energy of the phosphoarginine hydrolysis reaction also depends on the season and the difference between the value determined in winter and that measured in spring is explained by a modification of the mode of action or of the proportions of the enzymes involved in the muscular metabolism.

Effect of mammalian growth hormone on amino nitrogen mobilization in the eel

Hypophysectomy decreased plasma amino nitrogen (PAN) levels of Japanese eels. In contrast, administration of bovine or ovine growth hormone (GH; 2 micrograms/g) produced a delayed increase in PAN levels of both intact and hypophysectomized eels 48 hr after GH injection. The minimum dose of GH required to elevate PAN levels was found to be 0.1-1 micrograms/g body wt. The fact that GH treatment also increased PAN of hepatectomized eels indicates that the increased PAN was at least partly caused by the increased mobilization of amino nitrogen from body protein. GH also increased plasma free fatty acid content of intact and hypophysectomized eels 48 hr after GH injection in one experiment of the present study, but this effect was not reproducible in other experiments. No effect of GH administration was observed either in plasma glucose and lipid of intact and hypophysectomized eels 48 hr after the injection.

In vivo and in vitro effects of growth hormone on the incorporation of [14C]leucine into protein of liver and muscle of the eel

In vivo administration of ovine GH (2 micrograms/g body wt) increased [14C]leucine incorporation into protein of the liver, skeletal muscle, and opercular muscle of hypophysectomized eels. Addition of ovine GH into the medium (5 micrograms/ml) slightly increased [14C]leucine incorporation into protein of liver slices during 5 hr in vitro incubation, but did not affect protein synthesis from [14C]leucine in opercular muscle. In vivo pretreatment with ovine GH (2 micrograms/g body wt) 48 hr prior to tissue preparation clearly increased [14C]leucine incorporation into protein of liver slices in vitro. However, no statistically significant change was observed for in vitro incorporation of [14C]leucine into protein of opercular muscle of hypophysectomized eels which had been previously treated with ovine GH (2 micrograms/g body wt). These results indicate that ovine GH has a protein anabolic action in the liver and muscle of the eel and that compared to mammals a rather long lag period is needed to elicit such protein anabolic actions of GH in these animals.