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Daily rhythms in the morphometric parameters of hepatocytes and intestine of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax): influence of feeding time and hepatic zonation

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Abstract

The digestive system presents daily rhythms at both physiological and histological levels. Although cell morphology rhythms in mammals have been reported, they have scarcely been investigated in fish. The aim of the present research was to investigate the existence of daily rhythms in the morphology of cells in the liver and intestine of a teleost fish, the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), and how feeding time influences them. Regarding liver, we also focused on differences between the two metabolic zones: perivenous and periportal. For this purpose, fish were divided into two groups: fish fed once a day in the mid-light phase (ML) or the mid-dark phase (MD). After 1 month under each feeding regime, liver and intestine samples were collected every 4 h during a 24-h cycle, and different parameters were studied by light microscopy and image analysis. Daily rhythms occurred in most of the parameters evaluated in the liver. The effect of feeding time depended on the metabolic zone: the rhythms in the periportal zone were synchronized mainly by the light/dark cycle regardless of feeding time, whereas in the perivenous zone, rhythms were influenced more by feeding time. In the intestine, a daily rhythm in villi height was found with acrophases coinciding with feeding time in each group. These findings show for the first time the existence of cellular morphological rhythms in fish liver and intestine, and highlight the interactions between light and feeding cycles in the different metabolic zones of the liver.

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Acknowledgements

The present research was funded by project “CHRONOLIPOFISH” (RTI2018-100678-A-I00) and a “Ramón y Cajal” research fellowship (RYC-2016-20959) granted to JFLO; project BLUESOLE (AGL2017-82582-C3-3-R) granted to FJSV; and the “CRONOPECES” network (RED2018-102487-T); all granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and cofunded with FEDER Funds. This research was also partly funded by Fundación Séneca through grants 19883/GERM/15 and 19899/GERM/15 (Grupos de Excelencia). The authors wish to thank CULMAREX for kindly providing the fish used in the experiment, and the Spanish Ministry of Defense and the Spanish Army for providing their facilities at the Naval Base of Algameca (ENA). Finally, the authors thank José Antonio Oliver for his technical support with fish and laboratory maintenance, and Debbie Faichney for her support with histological analyses.

Funding

Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, RTI2018-100678-A-I00, RYC-2016-20959, AGL2017-82582-C3-3-R, RED2018-102487-T. Fundación Séneca, 19883/GERM/15, 19899/GERM/15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Inmaculada Rodríguez, José Ángel López-Jiménez, Francisco Javier Sánchez-Vázquez & Jose Fernando López-Olmeda

  2. Institute of Aquaculture, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, Scotland, UK

    Mónica B. Betancor

  3. Immunobiology for Aquaculture Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    María Ángeles Esteban

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  1. Inmaculada Rodríguez
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  2. Mónica B. Betancor
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Correspondence to Jose Fernando López-Olmeda.

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Rodríguez, I., Betancor, M.B., López-Jiménez, J.Á. et al. Daily rhythms in the morphometric parameters of hepatocytes and intestine of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax): influence of feeding time and hepatic zonation. J Comp Physiol B 191, 503–515 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-020-01334-w

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