Effects of starvation and refeeding on antioxidative function of liver,intestine and muscle in Acipenser dabryanus

【Objective】 In order to study the effects of starvation and refeeding on antioxidant function of liver, intestine and muscle in Acipenser dabryanus, so as to provide reference basis for revealing its physiological adaptation mechanism to environmental stress.【Method】 One hundred and twentyhealthy and vigorous A. dabryanus with similar body weight(60.532±0.284 g) were randomly divided into four treatment groups for 0, 3, 7 and 14 d starvation and 14 d refeeding test.After the experiment, the activities of antioxidant enzymes in liver, intestine and muscle were detected, including malondialdehyde(MDA) content and protein carbonyl(PC) content, superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity, catalase (CAT) activity, glutathione S-transferase(GST) activity, glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) activity, glutathione reductase(GR) activity and glutathione(GSH) activity and anti-superoxide anion(ASA) and anti-hydroxyl radical (AHR) ability.【Result】 During starvation, the results showed that the MDA content, GST, GSH-Px and GR activities in liver decreased significantly with prolonged starvation(P<0.05, the same below);GR activity and GSH content in intestine decreased gradually with prolonged starvation, CAT, GST and GSH-Px activities decreased first and then increased, while the MDA content increased first and then decreased. MDA and PC content in muscle increased significantly at first and then decreased, the highest activity of CAT was observed in 14 dgroup, whilethere was no significant difference in GR, GSH and ASA activities(P>0.05, the same below). After refeeding, GSH-Px activities in liver decreased significantly, the change trend of GR activity was opposite to that of GSH-Px;intestinal PC content decreased significantly with with prolonged starvation, CAT, GST, GSH-Px and GR activities increased first and then decreased, it showed that the intestinal antioxidant capacity was significantly up-regulated after 7 d of starvation and 14 d of refeeding;the content of MDA and PC, activities of SOD and AHR in muscle sinificantly decreased, where the CAT, GST and GR enzymes activities were the highestin14 d group.【Conclusion】 Starvation can inhibit the antioxidant capacity of A. dabryanus. With the extension of starvation stress time, a new oxidative balance is gradually formed by mobilizing different antioxidant enzyme activities to maintain the normal physiological state. After refeeding, nutrients are supplemented to restore the physio-logical functions of the fish, alleviate the oxidative stress caused by starvation to a certain extent, and form a new oxidative balance.