Metabolic responses of the South American ornate horned frog (Ceratophrys ornata) to estivation

Abstract

We examined the metabolic responses of the South American frog, Ceratophrys ornata, to laboratory-induced estivation. Whole-animal and mass-specific oxygen consumption rates (VO(2)) did not change during fasting or 56days of estivation, despite observing significant decreases in body mass. The maintenance of mass-specific metabolic rate at routine levels during estivation suggests that metabolic rate suppression is not a major response to estivation in this species. There was a significant decline in liver glycogen and a loss of adipose tissue mass during estivation, suggesting that both carbohydrate and lipid pathways are used to fuel metabolism during estivation. The activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase, an important regulator of carbohydrate oxidation, and carnitine palmitoyltransferase and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, regulators of lipid oxidation, showed no significant change in activity in liver, heart, and muscle between estivating and active frogs. There was an increase in plasma osmolality, which is characteristic of estivating animals. Overall, our metabolic analysis of estivation in C. ornata indicates that this species does not employ a dramatic suppression metabolic rate to survive dehydration stress and that both endogenous carbohydrates and lipids are used as metabolic fuels.