Effects of starvation and feeding on tissue Nα -acetylhistidine levels in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

Abstract

The effects of long-term starvation and feeding on Nα, -acetylhistidine (NAcH) levels in skeletal muscle, brain and lens of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus were examined. A drastic decrease in NAcH level of skeletal muscle during starvation was observed. This compound disappeared from skeletal muscle of the fish after 8 weeks of starvation, and was completely restored to the pre-starvation level (4–5 μmol/g muscle) by the following 8 weeks of feeding. The activities of N-acetylhistidine deacetylase (NAcHDE) and histidine acetyltransferase (HISAT) were very weak, but detectable in skeletal muscle of the species. It is supposed that the change of the NAcH level in skeletal muscle during starvation and feeding appears as a result of the degradation by NAcHDE and of the synthesis by HISAT.