Abstract
Animals acquire nutrients and energy through feeding to achieve a balance between growth and organismal health. When there is a change in nutrient acquisition, the state of growth changes and may also cause changes in the intrinsic immune system. Compensatory growth (CG), a specific growth phenomenon, involves the question of whether changes in growth can be accompanied by changes in innate immunity. The zebrafish (Danio rerio), a well-known fish model organism, can serve as a suitable model. In this study, the zebrafish underwent 3 weeks of fasting and refeeding for 3 to 7 day periods. It was found that CG could be achieved in zebrafish. Zebrafish susceptibility to Streptococcus agalactiae increased after starvation. In addition, the amount of melano-macrophage centers increased after fasting and the proportion of injured tubules increased after refeeding for 3 and 5 days, respectively. Furthermore, the kidneys of zebrafish suffering from starvation were under oxidative stress, and the activity of several antioxidant enzymes increased after starvation, including catalase, glutathione peroxidases and superoxide dismutase. Innate immune parameters were influenced by starvation. Additionally, the activity of alkaline phosphatase and lysozyme increased after starvation. The mRNA expression of immune-related genes like il-1β was elevated to a different extent after fasting with or without lipopolysaccharides (LPS) challenge. This study showed that the function of the innate immune system in zebrafish could be influenced by nutrition status.
Highlights
Basic life activities are dependent on the energy supply of the organism
Full compensatory growth was realized in zebrafish
In order to explore the resistance of zebrafish to pathogens, they were intraperitoneally injected with Streptococcus agalactiae
Summary
Basic life activities are dependent on the energy supply of the organism. Compensatory growth (CG) is a period of rapid growth after a phase of growth suppression, which can be caused by a shortage of food and other environmental factors [3,4]. This phenomenon was first recorded in mammals and was eventually found in birds [3] and teleosts [5]. One of the basic patterns of CG is fasting and refeeding. Fish can experience partial, full, over- or no compensation [4]. The special feeding regime of CG is regarded as a potential way to improve production efficiency in farmed species [7]
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