Abstract
The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, has been reported to tolerate long-term fasting without dormancy. However, the strategies for energy acquisition during fasting are unclear in this species. We performed 3- and 7-month fasting experiments to investigate how the metabolism of male X. laevis changes during long-term fasting. We found that the levels of several serum biochemical parameters, such as glucose, triglycerides, and free fatty acids, as well as liver glycogen were reduced after 3 months of fasting, whereas after 7 months of fasting, triglyceride levels were reduced, and fat body wet weight was lower than that of fed group indicating the onset of lipid catabolism. In addition, transcript levels of gluconeogenic genes, such as pck1, pck2, g6pc1.1, and g6pc1.2, were increased in the livers of animals fasted for 3 months, suggesting upregulation of gluconeogenesis. Our results raise the possibility that male X. laevis can tolerate much longer fasting than previously reported by utilizing several energy storage molecules. Further investigation of the effects of prolonged fasting on the metabolic switches from carbohydrates to lipids or amino acids in X. laevis is required.
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Abbreviations
- BUN:
-
Blood urea nitrogen
- CoA:
-
Coenzyme A
- β-HB:
-
β-Hydroxybutyrate
- HSI:
-
Hepatosomatic index
- NEFA:
-
Non-esterified fatty acid
- RT-qPCR:
-
Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction
- TG:
-
Triglyceride
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We thank Editage (https://www.editage.jp/) for a thorough and critical reading and revision of the manuscript.
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This work was supported in part by Grant of Fujieda City Open Type Regional Policy Research Project from Fujieda city, Shizuoka, Japan.
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Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by AN, RY, and MS. The first draft of the manuscript was prepared by AI and KY. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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The authors have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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All breeding and experimental procedures were approved by the Shizuoka University Animal Experiment Committee (Permit Number 29F-8) under the International Guidelines on Welfare and Management of Animals (Ministry of the Environment).
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Nakajima, A., Yamaguchi, R., Sasazaki, M. et al. Adult male Xenopus laevis can tolerate months of fasting by catabolizing carbohydrates and lipids. J Comp Physiol B 193, 227–238 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01478-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01478-5