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Hepatocellular adaptation to extreme nutritional conditions in ide,Leuciscus idus melanotus L. (Cyprinidae). A morphofunctional analysis

Fish Physiology and Biochemistry volume 5, pages 79–97 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

The adaptive response of the omnivorous ide,Leuciscus idus melanotus, to drastic metabolic conditions was analyzed on different levels of organisation investigating a variety of parameters: Organism (condition factor, liver-somatic index), organ (liver structure), cellular and subcellular level (hepatocyte structure, glycogen and lipid storage, contents and distribution of nucleic acids, enzyme alterations).

During starvation, ide were able to maintain liver integrity in a biphasic process: after an initial phase of disturbance, ide established a new structural and metabolic homeostasis. Recovery from starvation was possible only with a complete diet but not with a sucrose diet. Carbohydrate overload, as evoked by sucrose refeeding, did not result in liver or carcass fattening as known from mammals.

To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to use enzyme histochemistry in fish nutrition research. In mammals, histochemistry is particularly helpful for understanding processes of hepatic metabolic adaptation. In fish, however, on the basis of our results, enzyme histochemical studies appear to be of limited value, as long as no further data are available on a zonal distribution of enzyme activities in teleost liver parenchyma. Instead, the histochemical detection of the distribution of hepatic storage products and RNA-positive material yielded important information on liver adaptive processes.

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Abbreviations

H:

starvation

SU:

sucrose

AD:

artificial diet

AcP:

acid phosphatase

G6Pase:

glucose-6-phosphatase

G6PDH:

glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

GLU:

β-glucuronidase

ME:

malic enzyme

PHO:

glycogen phosphorylase

UE:

unspecific esterase

RER:

rough endoplasmic reticulum

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  1. Zoologisches Institut I, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 230, D-6900, Heidelberg, West Germany

    Helmut Segner & Thomas Braunbeck

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  1. Helmut Segner
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  2. Thomas Braunbeck
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Segner, H., Braunbeck, T. Hepatocellular adaptation to extreme nutritional conditions in ide,Leuciscus idus melanotus L. (Cyprinidae). A morphofunctional analysis. Fish Physiol Biochem 5, 79–97 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01875645

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01875645

Key words

  • ide
  • liver
  • adaptation
  • starvation
  • diet
  • histology
  • histochemistry
  • biochemistry