Hepatic and intestinal histology of juvenile white sturgeon fed different carbohydrates

Abstract

Juvenile white sturgeon were fed isonitrogenous purified diets containing 27.2% of either glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, lactose, dextrin, raw corn starch or cellulose for 8 weeks. Sturgeon fed glucose, maltose or dextrin had significantly ( P<0.05) higher hepatosomatic indices and liver glycogen levels than fish fed the other carbohydrates. Sturgeon fed glucose, maltose, dextrin or corn starch had histologically normal livers, whereas fish fed sucrose, lactose or fructose had a moderate condensation of the hepatocyte cytoplasm and a decreased number of glycogen-containing intracytoplasmic vacuoles. The distal intestines of sturgeon fed sucrose, lactose or fructose contained a significantly ( P<0.05) higher amount of luminal water. In these sturgeon, the cytoplasm in the mucosal epithelial cells of the distal intestines was occupied by a few large irregular non-glycogen-containing vacuoles. The increased amount of luminal water in the distal intestines of sturgeon fed sucrose, lactose or fructose was similar to that observed in the large intestines of higher vertebrates with diarrhea secondary to disaccharide intolerance.