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Blood chemistry profile as indicator of nutritional status in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

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Abstract

This study was carried out to establish biochemical parameters with potential diagnostic value to assess the nutritional status of healthy seabass. For that purpose, triplicate groups of seabass juveniles were submitted to different feeding protocols: fed for 14 days; fed for 7 days followed by 7 days of fasting or fasted for 14 days. At the end of the trial, body, liver and viscera were randomly sampled for proximate composition analysis. Blood was also collected and the following plasma parameters were analyzed by standard clinical methods: glucose; cholesterol; triglycerides; protein; inorganic phosphorus; calcium; magnesium; alkaline phosphatase (ALP); aspartate aminotransferase; lactate dehydrogenase; creatine phosphokinase and lipase. No major effect of feed deprivation on body composition, visceral index, perivisceral and hepatic lipid content were observed, whereas hepatosomatic index and hepatic glycogen were reduced. Previous feeding conditions strongly influenced the plasma parameters in seabass. Comparatively to the fed group, plasma glucose, cholesterol and calcium levels were reduced after 2 weeks of fasting while plasma triglycerides, protein, inorganic phosphorus and ALP attained minimum levels after 1 week of fasting. Overall, enzymatic activity parameters showed higher variability than biochemistry parameters. In conclusion, during short-term starvation (<14 days) hepatic energy depots were extensively mobilized while perivisceral and body lipids reserves were preserved. Among measured parameters, plasma protein, triglycerides, inorganic phosphorus and ALP seem to have potential as predicative diagnostic tools to assess the nutritional status of seabass and may be useful to monitor feeding practices in aquaculture. Further studies are, however, required to extend results of this study to other fish size classes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by the Project AQUAIMPROV (reference NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000038), co-financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2—O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR – Laboratório Associado), Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050, Porto, Portugal

    Helena Peres & Aires Oliva-Teles

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Edifício FC4 - Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    Sara Santos & Aires Oliva-Teles

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  1. Helena Peres
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  2. Sara Santos
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  3. Aires Oliva-Teles
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Correspondence to Helena Peres.

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Peres, H., Santos, S. & Oliva-Teles, A. Blood chemistry profile as indicator of nutritional status in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Fish Physiol Biochem 40, 1339–1347 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-014-9928-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-014-9928-5

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