The Fate of Arginine and Proline Carbon in Squid Tissues

The metabolism of proline and arginine was investigated in kidney, gill, and heart of the pelagic squid, Symplectoteuthis. The rates of CO2 release from 14C-proline exceeded the rates from 14C-arginine. The metabolic rate of arginine and proline was assessed by monitoring the incorporation of arginine-derived carbon into various intermediates. Arginine was metabolized, through ornithine, to proline as well as to glutamate and various subsequent derivatives (alanine, octopine, aspartate, and carboxylic acids). The same components became labeled using 14C-proline as the starting substrate, but only the gill was capable of converting proline to arginine via the urea cycle. In addition, 14C-proline oxidation rates were high enough to exceed those of 14C-glucose in at least three tissues, kidney, heart, and inner mantle muscle

Biochemical parameters of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) after transport with eugenol or essential oil of Lippia alba added to the water

The transport of live fish is a routine practice in aquaculture and constitutes a considerable source of stress to the animals. The addition of anesthetic to the water used for fish transport can prevent or mitigate the deleterious effects of transport stress. This study investigated the effects of the addition of eugenol (EUG) (1.5 or 3.0 mu L L-1) and essential oil of Lippia alba (EOL) (10 or 20 mu L L-1) on metabolic parameters (glycogen, lactate and total protein levels) in liver and muscle, acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) in muscle and brain, and the levels of protein carbonyl (PC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and nonprotein thiol groups (NPSH) and activity of glutathione-S-transferase in the liver of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen; Quoy and Gaimard, 1824) transported for four hours in plastic bags (loading density of 169.2 g L-1). The addition of various concentrations of EUG (1.5 or 3.0 mu L L-1) and EOL (10 or 20 mu L L-1) to the transport water is advisable for the transportation of silver catfish, since both concentrations of these substances increased the levels of NPSH antioxidant and decreased the TBARS levels in the liver. In addition, the lower liver levels of glycogen and lactate in these groups and lower AChE activity in the brain (EOL 10 or 20 mu L L-1) compared to the control group indicate that the energetic metabolism and neurotransmission were lower after administration of anesthetics, contributing to the maintenance of homeostasis and sedation status.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS/PRONEX) [10/0016-8]; Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cientifico (CNPq) [470964/2009-0]; Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES); CNPqinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hormonal effects on glycogen metabolism in isolated hepatocytes of a freeze-tolerant frog

To determine whether specific hormonal responses were involved in the production of cryoprotectant (glucose) by liver of the freeze tolerant wood frog, Rana sylvatica, metabolically active hepatocytes were isolated in reasonable yields (mean 20.1 ± 1.30% SEM, n = 29) by in situ liver perfusion with collagenase. Freshly isolated cells from autumn-collected frogs contained large amounts of glycogen (650 μmol glucosyl units/g packed cells) and produced glucose from this endogenous reserve at a rate of 10 μmol g-1 hr-1 at 0°. Glucose output from cells was highly responsive to the addition of hormones; rates of glucose release increased 2.1-, 1.7-, and 1.7-fold with the addition of 10-7 M bovine glucagon, 10-7 M epinephrine, and 5 × 10-6 M dibutyryl-cyclic AMP, respectively. Norepinephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and bovine insulin were without effect at 0.1 μM/l. Hormone stimulation of glucose release was correlated with an increase in both the total activity and the percentage a of glycogen phosphorylase in hepatocytes. However, none of the hormones tested affected the kinetic properties of hepatocyte pyruvate kinase, suggesting the absence of covalent modification control of the enzyme. The data indicate that the freezing-stimulated production of large quantities of glucose as a cryoprotectant by R. sylvatica liver does not involve qualitative differences in the hormonal control of liver glycogenolysis, compared with other lower vertebrates. However, quantitative differences were seen, such as the much greater phosphorylase activity, 4.38 ± 0.33 μmol min-1 g-1 packed cells, in freshly isolated R. sylvatica hepatocytes compared with 0.36 ± 0.06 μmol min-1 g-1 in Rana pipiens hepatocytes