Does the time of feeding affect the diurnal rhythms of plasma hormone and glucose concentration and hepatic glycogen content of rainbow trout?

Abstract

The diurnal rhythms of plasma glucose, cortisol, growth hormone (GH) and thyroid hormone (T4, T3) concentrations and hepatic glycogen content were measured in rainbow trout that had been entrained to a specific time of daily feeding (post-dawn, midday, pre-dusk); the purpose of the study was to investigate the significance of feeding time on hormones and metabolite patterns. Plasma GH, cortisol and T4 concentrations all showed evidence of a diurnal rhythm in some treatment groups. There was a significant interaction between the time of feeding and plasma GH and cortisol concentration rhythms; for GH, this appeared to be related to the phase-shifting of the post-prandial increases in plasma GH concentrations, and for cortisol, the rhythms were only evident in fish fed in the post-dawn period [diurnal rhythms were not evident in treatment groups fed in at midday or pre-dusk]. Peak plasma T4 concentrations were evident during the photophase in all three treatment groups; however, the time of feeding had a negligible effect on the timing of those peaks. There were no apparent diurnal rhythms of plasma T3 and glucose concentrations, hepatic glycogen content or hepatosomatic index in any of the three treatment groups.