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Blood respiratory properties of rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri: Responses to hypoxia acclimation and anoxic incubation of blood in vitro

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Summary

Blood respiratory properties of rainbow trout were determined following acclimation to normoxia and two levels of hypoxia.

The most prominent response appeared to be an increase in blood O2 affinity graded to the level of hypoxia. TheP 50 values (at pH 7.8 and 20°C) were 24.1 21.7 and 16.8 mm Hg when specimens were acclimated to water O2 tensions of 150, 80 and 50 mm Hg, respectively. The blood O2 affinity was closely correlated with the erythrocytic ATP concentration. The stepwise correlation of ATP andP 50, when trout were exposed to graded oxygen lack in the water, indicates that the blood O2 affinity is precisely regulated.

Anoxic incubation of trout blood in vitro induced a rapid reduction in erythrocytic ATP concentration (t 1/2=75 min), which was closely correlated to theP 50 value. The drop inP 50 value during anoxic exposure can be explained partly by the direct allosteric effect of a decreased erythrocytic ATP concentration and partly by the modified Donnan distribution of protons across the red cell membrane. Reoxygenation of the incubated blood, however, only partly re-established the erythrocytic ATP concentration, with a concurrent rise inP 50 value.

The results invite discussion about the mechanism, by which fish regulate their blood O2 affinity. It is concluded, that it is regulated at the organismal rather than at the red cell level.

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Abbreviations

(E):

erythrocytes, erythrocytic

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoophysiology, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Vilhelm Tetens & Gunnar Lykkeboe

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  1. Vilhelm Tetens
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  2. Gunnar Lykkeboe
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Tetens, V., Lykkeboe, G. Blood respiratory properties of rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri: Responses to hypoxia acclimation and anoxic incubation of blood in vitro. J Comp Physiol B 145, 117–125 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00782602

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