Changes of Somatotropin Concentration in Blood Serum of Juvenile Russian Sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Acipenseriformes) During Adaptation to Hyperosmotic Medium

Abstract

To study the role of somatotropin (ST) in osmotic regulation of anadromous acipenserids, the dynamics of hormone concentration in blood serum of juvenile Russian sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt (age 4 months, average length 16.9 cm, average weight 17.1 g) during fish adaptation to hyperosmotic medium of 12.5‰ salinity (403 mOsm/l) was evaluated for the first time. During the first 24 h after the transfer of fish from freshwater to hyperosmotic medium, an increase of ST serum concentration (up to 2.06 ± 0.09 vs. 0.98 ± 0.03 pg/ml in control fish from freshwater) was observed. This increase occurs concurrently with an increase in blood serum osmolarity (up to 386.2 ± 4.0 mOsm/l vs. 218.5 ± 4.9 mOsm/l in control) resulting from the diffusion of water from the organism under new osmotic gradient, as well as with the period of morphofunctional remodelling of the osmoregulatory system corresponding to the transition of fish to hypoosmotic regulation. 24 h after the start of the experiment, fish that have shifted to hypoosmotic regulation display the adaptive decrease in osmolarity (aimed at maintaining the relative constancy of blood serum) and the ST concentration (down to 1.18 ± 0.16 pg/ml after 120 h, comparable with that in the control fish). It is concluded that during transition of juvenile Russian sturgeon to hypoosmotic regulation, ST becomes involved in morphofunctional remodelling of the osmoregulatory system concurrently with other components of this system. ST-immunopositive cells were revealed in the dorsal part of mesoadenohypophysis of Russian sturgeon juveniles by immunochemical method.