Plasma steroid hormone levels in female flounder Platichthys flesus and the influence of fluctuating hydrostatic pressure

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2012

Authors

damasceno-oliveira, a (Author) ICBAS; Fernandez Duran, B (Author) Other; goncalves, j (Author) ICBAS; Couto, E (Author) Other; Canario, AVM (Author) Other; Coimbra, J (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology

Vol. 163

Pages: 272-277

ISSN: 1095-6433

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 4 Citations

Scopus - 6 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-002-46P

DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.08.001

Abstract (EN): The reproductive cycle in teleosts is timed to guarantee that eggs hatch in the right place at the right time, with environmental factors playing important roles in entraining and controlling the entire process. The effects of some environmental factors, like temperature and photoperiod, are now well understood. There are only a few studies regarding the effects of hydrostatic pressure (HP) on the reproductive cycle, in spite of its importance as a ubiquitous factor in all biological environments and affecting all living organisms. Hydrostatic pressure is of particular importance in fish because they can also experience rapid and cyclic changes in HP due to vertical movements in the water column. The aim of the present research was to investigate the effects of vertical migrations on the reproductive steroids of maturing female flounder. After a 14 day exposure to cyclic hydrostatic pressure (with a period of 12.4 h and with a maximum peak of 800 kPa of absolute hydrostatic pressure), fish showed significantly lower plasmatic concentrations of "5 beta,3 alpha" steroids, metabolites of the putative maturation-inducing steroid in flounder (17 alpha,20 beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one). Results indicate that environmentally realistic cyclic changes of hydrostatic pressure can influence the metabolism of reproductive steroids. This suggests a physiological role of tidally-associated vertical migrations, affecting oocyte maturation and retarding the reproductive cycle in this species until the spawning ground is attained.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6