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Effects of season, food deprivation and re-feeding on leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone in arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) on Svalbard, Norway

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Abstract

The arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) is a medium-sized predator of the high Arctic experiencing extreme seasonal fluctuations in food availability, photoperiod and temperature. In this study, the plasma leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone (GH) concentrations of male arctic foxes were determined during a food deprivation period of 13 days and the subsequent recovery in November and May. Leptin, ghrelin and GH were present in arctic fox plasma in amounts comparable to other carnivores. The plasma leptin concentrations did not react to food deprivation unlike in humans and rodents. However, the leptin levels increased during re-feeding as an indicator of increasing energy reserves. The relatively high ghrelin–leptin ratio, decrease in the plasma ghrelin concentration, an increase in the circulating GH concentrations and the observed negative correlation between plasma ghrelin and free fatty acid levels during fasting suggest that these hormones take part in the weight-regulation and energy metabolism of this species by increasing fat utilisation during food deprivation. The results strengthen the hypothesis that the actions of these weight-regulatory hormones are species–specific and depend on seasonality and the life history of the animals.

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Abbreviations

FFA :

free fatty acid

GH :

growth hormone

RMR :

resting metabolic rate

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Acknowledgements

We thank: the staff at the Research Station of the Norwegian Polar Institute in Ny-Ålesund for assistance with feeding the foxes; E. Johansen, K. Fossan, E. Molstad, N. M. Molstad (deceased), S. Onarheim and A. Grimnaes for assistance and help with the trapping of some of the foxes; E. Molstad and N. M. Molstad (deceased) for assistance with collecting the blood samples; the Governor of Svalbard and Kings Bay A/S for permitting capture of the foxes. The arctic foxes used in the present work were cared for in accordance with the principles and guidelines of the Norwegian Animal Welfare Act, with permission from the National Animal Research Authority. This project got financial support from an Arctic scholarship, Norwegian National Committee on Polar Research, in 1995, from the Faculty of Science of the University of Joensuu, from the Helve Foundation and from the National Technology Agency of Finland in 2002.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Polar Institute, N-9296, Tromsø, Norway

    E. Fuglei

  2. Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, PO Box 111, FIN-80101, Joensuu, Finland

    A.-M. Mustonen & P. Nieminen

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  1. E. Fuglei
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  2. A.-M. Mustonen
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  3. P. Nieminen
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Correspondence to E. Fuglei.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier

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Fuglei, E., Mustonen, AM. & Nieminen, P. Effects of season, food deprivation and re-feeding on leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone in arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) on Svalbard, Norway. J Comp Physiol B 174, 157–162 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-003-0400-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-003-0400-6

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