Journal of Comparative Physiology B

, Volume 180, Issue 5, pp 661–671 | Cite as

The metabolic responses and acid–base status after feeding, exhaustive exercise, and both feeding and exhaustive exercise in Chinese catfish (Silurus asotus Linnaeus)

  • Ke-Gui Li
  • Zhen-Dong Cao
  • Jiang-Lan Peng
  • Shi-Jian Fu
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Feeding and exhaustive exercise are known to elevate metabolism. However, acid–base status may be oppositely affected by the two processes. In this study, we first investigated the acid–base response of Chinese catfish to feeding (the meal size was about 8% of body mass) to test whether an alkaline tide (a metabolic alkalosis created by gastric HCl secretion after feeding) would occur. We then determined the combined effects of feeding and exhaustive exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption and acid–base status to determine whether the alkaline tide induced by feeding protects against acid–base disturbance during exhaustive exercise and affects subsequent recovery. Arterial blood pH increased from 7.74 ± 0.02 before feeding to 7.88 ± 0.02 and plasma [HCO3 −]pl increased from 5.42 ± 0.29 to 7.83 ± 0.37 mmol L−1 6 h after feeding, while feeding had no significant effect on \( P_{{{\text{CO}}_{2} }} \). Exhaustive exercise led to a significant reduction in pH by 0.46 units and a reduction of [HCO3 −]pl by ~3 mmol L−1. Lactate concentrations in white muscle and plasma increased by 2.4 mmol L−1 and 13.4 μmol g−1, respectively. Fed fish had a higher pH and [HCO3 −]pl than fasting fish at rest, and the reductions in pH (0.36 units) and [HCO3 −]pl (~2 mmol L−1) were thus lower after exhaustive exercise. However, the recovery of acid–base status and metabolites were similar in digesting and fasting fish. Overall, a significant alkaline tide was found in Chinese catfish after feeding. The alkaline tide elicited by feeding significantly prevented the decreases in pH and [HCO3 −]pl immediately after exhaustive exercise, but recovery from exhaustive exercise was not affected by digestion.

Keywords

Acid–base status Exhaustive exercise Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption Feeding Specific dynamic action 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by research grants from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC 30700087) (granted to S.J.F.), the Program for Excellent Talents at the University of Chongqing City (granted to S.J.F.) and the Research Project of the Chongqing Education Committee (KJ080823) (granted to Z.D.C.). We thank Dr. Yu-Xiang Wang and Dr. Colin Brauner for their suggestions on experimental methods, and postgraduates Ying Luo, Xiu-Ming Li, Yan-Ping Zhu, Wen-Wen Zhao, Wei Zhang, Hao Yang and Fang Wang for experiments and fish husbandry. We also thank two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on early version of this manuscript. We declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were performed.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ke-Gui Li
    • 1
  • Zhen-Dong Cao
    • 1
  • Jiang-Lan Peng
    • 1
  • Shi-Jian Fu
    • 1
  1. 1.Laboratory of Evolutionary Physiology and Behaviour, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Animal BiologyChongqing Normal UniversityChongqingChina

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