Macronutrient-induced differences in food intake relate with hepatic oxidative metabolism and hypothalamic regulatory neuropeptides in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study examines how dietary macronutrient-induced changes in voluntary food intake (FI) relate to changes in markers of hepatic oxidative metabolism and in the expression of FI regulatory neuropeptides in a teleost model, the rainbow trout. Rainbow trout were fed for 6 weeks with one of four iso-energetic diets (2 × 2 factorial design), containing either a high (HP, ~ 500 g·kg− 1 DM) or a low (LP, ~ 250 g·kg− 1 DM) protein level (PL) with, at each PL, fat (diets HP-F and LP-F) being substituted by an iso-energetic amount of gelatinized corn starch (diets HP-St and LP-St) as non-protein energy source (ES). Irrespective of the dietary PL, FI (g·kg− 0.8·d− 1) and digestible energy intake (DEI, kJ·kg− 0.8·d− 1) were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced by the iso-energetic replacement of fat by starch as non-protein ES. Interestingly, trout fed these St-diets had higher gene expression of markers of hepatic oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), i.e. ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase subunit 2 (UCR2) and cytochrome oxidase subunit 4 (COX4) and of aerobic oxidative capacity (CS, citrate synthase), which paralleled glucokinase (GK) transcription. This positive relation suggests that glucose phosphorylation and markers of mitochondrial OxPhos are linked at the hepatic level and possibly triggered the observed reduction in FI. Moreover, trout displaying the reduced FI had higher cocaine amphetamine regulator transcript (CART) mRNA in hypothalamus, whereas neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA did not follow the macronutrient-induced changes in FI. Further studies are needed to unravel the mechanisms by which diet-induced changes in hepatic metabolism inform central feeding centers involved in the regulation of FI in fish.

► Diets containing starch (St-diets) compared to fat (F-diets) as non-protein ES reduced food intake (FI) and somatic growth. ► The low FI of St-diets was accompanied by increased hepatic expression of markers involved in oxidative phosphorylation. ► Data suggest the existence of a link between hepatic oxidative metabolism and FI in trout, so far never considered in fish. ► Trout displaying the reduced FI had higher cocaine amphetamine regulator transcript (CART) mRNA in hypothalamus.