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Abstract
Ghrelin, along with several other hormones, has significant effects on appetite and growth in humans and animals. The aim of our study was to examine changes in relative growth rates, ?- and ?-glucosidase activities and endocrine cell size in the midgut of 4th instar caterpillars of the pest insect Lymantria dispar L. after ghrelin treatment. Four subpicomolar injections of ghrelin (0.3 pmol) or physiological saline were applied every 24 h to two separate groups of fifteen caterpillars. Repeated administration of ghrelin in subpicomolar doses elevated the relative growth rate, induced ?- and ?-glucosidase activities and increased the size of endocrine cells. The results are the first data about ghrelin effects on relative growth rate, digestive enzyme activities and midgut endocrine cells in insects. This information supports the use of this relatively simple model system in future studies of mechanisms underlying digestion in complex organisms.
Highlights
Lymantria dispar L., a polyphagous herbivore, is the most dangerous insect pest of forest and fruit trees
Β-glucosidase activity (LSD test - P
We present the analysis of changes in the relative growth rate and digestive enzyme activities in Lymantria dispar, which should help us to understand the behavioral and physiological basis of such responses
Summary
Lymantria dispar L., a polyphagous herbivore, is the most dangerous insect pest of forest and fruit trees. There are a large number of compounds in insect tissues that are identical or at least structurally very similar to vertebrate hormones involved in the regulation of feeding intensity, such as tachykininscholecystockinin (Wei et al, 2000), gastrin (Janssen at al., 2008), somatotropin-like, ACTH-like (Perić Mataruga et al, 2007), neuropeptide Y, and agoutirelated protein (Wu et al, 2005). This evidence favors the idea that vertebrate and insect hormones emerged early during evolution and that they have a common origin (Nijhout, 1994).
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