The effect of aerobic exercise training on growth performance, digestive enzyme activities and postprandial metabolic response in juvenile qingbo (Spinibarbus sinensis)

Continual swimming exercise usually promotes growth in fish at a moderate water velocity. We hypothesized that the improvement in growth in exercise-trained fish may be accompanied by increases in digestive enzyme activity, respiratory capacity and, hence, postprandial metabolism. Juvenile qingbo fish (Spinibarbus sinensis) were subjected to aerobic training for 8 weeks at a water velocity of control (3 cm s− 1), 1, 2 and 4 body length (bl) s− 1 at a constant temperature of 25 °C. The feed intake (FI), food conversion rate (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), whole-body composition, trypsin and lipase activities, maximal oxygen consumption (M˙O2max) and postprandial M˙O2 response were measured at the end of the training period. Aerobic exercise training induced a significant increase in FI compared with the control group, while the FCR of the 4 bl s− 1 group was significantly lower than for the other three groups (P < 0.05). The 1 and 2 bl s− 1 groups showed a significantly higher SGR over the control group (P < 0.05). The whole-body fat and protein contents were significantly altered after aerobic exercise training (P < 0.05). Furthermore, aerobic exercise training elevated the activity of both trypsin and lipase in the hepatopancreas and intestinal tract of juvenile S. sinensis. The M˙O2max of the 4 bl s− 1 training group was significantly higher than for the control group. The resting M˙O2 (M˙O2rest) and peak postprandial M˙O2 (M˙O2peak) in the three training groups were significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). Time to M˙O2peak was significantly shorter in the 1, 2 and 4 bl s− 1 training groups compared with the control group, while exercise training showed no effect on SDA (specific dynamic action) duration, factorial metabolic scope, energy expended on SDA and the SDA coefficient when compared to the control group. These data suggest that (1) the optimum water velocity for the growth of juvenile S. sinensis occurred at approximately 2.4 bl s− 1; (2) the improvement of growth may have been primarily due to an increase in the FI after long-term training; (3) and aerobic exercise training boosted the activity of digestive enzymes and maximum digestive metabolism, which could favor fast digestion and growth in juvenile S. sinensis.