| Abstract: | The levels of glycogen, lactate, acetoacetate and  -hydroxybutyrate in brain as well as glycogen and lactate levels in liver, and glucose levels in plasma were evaluated in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, injected with ethanol/saline (5/95; v/v) alone (controls) or containing melatonin at three different doses 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg kg-1. The results obtained demonstrate, for the first time in a teleost fish, the existence of changes in brain carbohydrate and ketone body metabolism due to melatonin treatment. Thus, a clear dose-dependent decrease was observed in brain and liver glycogen levels, whereas a clear dose-response increase was observed in brain for lactate, acetoacetate and -hydroxybutyrate levels, and in plasma for glucose levels. CO2 production from glucose was also tested in brains of pooled fish and these rates were not altered by melatonin treatment. Altogether, these results suggest that melatonin may play an indirect role, possibly through alterations in insulin physiology, in the regulation of carbohydrate and ketone body metabolism in brain of rainbow trout. |
