The effects of thyroid hormones and starvation on hepatic mitochondrial nucleic acids of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Twenty four hours after an intraperitoneal injection of thyroxine (T4; 4.4, 44 ng/g body wt) or triiodothyronine (T3; 3.3, 33 ng/g body wt), DNA and RNA were significantly reduced in isolated liver mitochondria of rainbow trout. Total liver DNA was increased with the higher doses in both T4- and T3-injected specimens while total RNA was significantly reduced with the same doses. Total circulating plasma T4 was reduced with the injections of T3 or starvation, and plasma T3 was increased severalfold with the T3 injections. Plasma T4 also increased fivefold after a higher dose of T4 injection while starvation significantly reduced the concentration, when measured by radioimmunoassay.

Nutrition, hormones and growth.

A review is presented relating to the effects of hormones on food intake and nutritional state and also of the effects of food intake and nutritional state on hormone activity. These interactions and their effect on fish growth are described.Growth hormone, thyroid hormones, insulin, and gonadal steroids have all been implicated in the normal growth processes of fish and their metabolic actions have been related to the nutritional state of the animal. Furthermore, variations in plasma levels and hormone application appear to affect food intake and food conversion.Anabolic steroids and their possible involvement in aquaculture practice has been an area of active investigation for the past few years. The current situation is reviewed, particularly regarding relevance to protein intake.

Preliminary study on the effect of temperature on the transport of thyroxine (T4) into the body tissues and sub-cellular fractions of liver and muscle of carp, Cyprinus carpio.

In order to determine if the inability of thyroxine to induce cellular effects at low temperature is mediated through a temperature-sensitive system for the translocation of T4 into the nucleus, the effect of temperature on the uptake of T4 by body tissues and sub-cellular fractions of carp liver and muscle was studied in vivo. A single injection of 125I-T4 (1 micro C/10 g body weight) was given intraperitoneally to juvenile carp maintained at 15 and 25 C. Uptake from the peritoneal cavity was rapid. All the tissues exhibited maximum radioactivity at 2 hour after the injection. Fish kept at 25 C showed another peak at 8 hour and those at 15 C at 48 hour after the single injection. Transfer of T4 from the cytoplasm to nuclei was not blocked at lower temperatures. For example, in liver at 8 hour, nuclei from fish tissues kept at lower or higher temperatures had equal amounts of radioactivity. Muscle nuclei had 15% more radioactivity than liver nuclei when expressed as radioactivity/g tissue. Since there are comparable amounts of activity in the nuclei at both temperatures, some other mechanism/s than a simple block in transport from cytoplasm to nuclei is operating. There are some indications that nutritional status of fish may be playing some role in this respect.

Preliminary study on the effect of temperature on the transport of thyroxine (T4) into the body tissues and sub-cellular fractions of liver and muscle of carp, Cyprinus carpio.

In order to determine if the inability of thyroxine to induce cellular effects at low temperature is mediated through a temperature-sensitive system for the translocation of T4 into the nucleus, the effect of temperature on the uptake of T4 by body tissues and sub-cellular fractions of carp liver and muscle was studied in vivo. A single injection of 125I-T4 (1 micro C/10 g body weight) was given intraperitoneally to juvenile carp maintained at 15 and 25 C. Uptake from the peritoneal cavity was rapid. All the tissues exhibited maximum radioactivity at 2 hour after the injection. Fish kept at 25 C showed another peak at 8 hour and those at 15 C at 48 hour after the single injection. Transfer of T4 from the cytoplasm to nuclei was not blocked at lower temperatures. For example, in liver at 8 hour, nuclei from fish tissues kept at lower or higher temperatures had equal amounts of radioactivity. Muscle nuclei had 15

more radioactivity than liver nuclei when expressed as radioactivity/g tissue. Since there are comparable amounts of activity in the nuclei at both temperatures, some other mechanism/s than a simple block in transport from cytoplasm to nuclei is operating. There are some indications that nutritional status of fish may be playing some role in this respect.

Inhibition of thyroidal iodine release by oestrogens in euthyroid subjects.

The effects of oestrogens on the release of thyroxine iodide (T4 I) and non-T4 I by the thyroid gland of 6 normal subjects and 3 thyrotrophin (TSH)-treated patients with hypopituitarism were assessed before, during and after treatment with 25 mg of Dienoestrol (Glaxo Lab.), orally, daily, during 8 days. Each subject received an iv injection of 150 microCi of 125I followed 6 days later by an iv injection of 75 microCi of [131I]T4. Blood samples and collections of urine were obtained every 12 h. From plasma and urinary (U) radioactivity, the ratio U[125I]/U[131I], U[125I]/PB[125I] and U[131I]/PB[131I] were obtained and served to calculate thyroidal iodine release and non-T4 I secretion by the thyroid gland. T4 I secretion was equivalent to T4 I disposal rate obtained by the semilogarithmic regression line of PB[131I]. In normal subjects, oestrogens decreased T4 I secretion from 491 +/- 57 (SD) nmol/day to 451 +/- 60 nmol (P less than 0.025), while in the same subjects serum TSH increased with oestrogens from 3.3 +/- 1.1 to 6.6 +/- 2.1 mU/l (P less than 0.01). The non-T4 I secretion had a mean of 585 +/- 307 nmol/day during control, 324 +/- 199 nmol during oestrogens (P less than 0.01) and 480 +/- 286 nmol oestrogens (P less than 0.05 vs oestrogens). In the TSH-treated patients oestrogens induced non-significant reductions in T4 I and non-T4 I secretion, although total iodine secretion decreased significantly (P less than 0.05). The data is consonant with a partial inhibition by oestrogens of thyroid gland release.

Effects of quantity and quality of dietary protein on certain enzyme activities in rainbow trout.

The effects of variation in quality and quantity of dietary protein on certain tissue enzymes in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were examined. Trout were given for 9 weeks diets containing proteins of different quality (fish-meal, casein and corn gluten) and with protein energy levels ranging from 26 to 74% of total metabolizable energy. In the first experiment, activities of a number of enzymes were monitored by only hepatic serine pyruvate transaminase (SPT) activity changed in response to the dietary treatments--increasing as protein energy level was raised. In the second experiment, opposing glycolytic an gluconeogenic enzyme activities [pyruvate kinase (PK) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK); phosphofructokinase (PFK) and fructose diphosphatase (FDP)] were measured. Gluconeogenic enzyme activities correlated positively and significantly with dietary protein energy level; glycolytic enzymes correlated negatively and significantly with this parameter for all three proteins. There was no consistent relationship between presumed equilibrium point of opposing enzyme activities and maximum weight gain for the three proteins. It is suggested that hepatic activities of SPT, PFK, PK, FDP and PEPCK will provide useful indices of protein status in trout.