Dietary histidine affects lens protein turnover and synthesis of N-acetylhistidine in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) undergoing parr–smolt transformation

This study was conducted to investigate protein synthesis rates and metabolism of histidine (His)‐derivatives in lenses of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) of different dietary His background during parr–smolt transformation. Two populations of Atlantic salmon parr of equal origin were established in freshwater (FW), 3 months prior to transfer to seawater (SW). The populations were fed either a control diet (CD) containing 8.9 g kg^?1 His or the same diet added crystalline His to a total level of 14.2 g kg^?1 (HD). On the basis of these two populations, ¹⁴C His force‐feeding studies were performed; in FW 3 weeks prior to sea transfer and in SW 6 weeks after transfer. The studies were conducted by force‐feeding the respective diets enriched with ¹⁴C labelled His, with subsequent measurements of incorporation of ¹⁴C His into lens free amino acid pool, as well as into lens proteins and other free His pool fractions. The latter included the major lens imidazole N‐acetylhistidine (NAH). Lens concentrations of His and NAH were clearly influenced by dietary His history, both in parr and smolt. The lens His and NAH concentrations in the CD population were considerably lower in SW than in FW, while in the HD group the His level was equal and the NAH level 50% higher in SW than in FW. Fractional synthesis rate for NAH, K_{S (NAH)}, in FW was 8.2 and 4.2 μmol g^?1 day^?1 for fish in the CD and HD populations, respectively. The corresponding K_{S (NAH)} values in SW were 5.1 and 33.0 μmol g^?1 day^?1. Our data show that free His is rapidly converted to NAH in the lens, and that NAH seems to have a very high turnover, especially in salmon reared in SW. Fractional synthesis rate for lens proteins, K_{S (PROTEIN)}, ranged between 1.8 and 17.3% day^?1 (182 and 2791 μg g^?1 day^?1, respectively), and was generally higher in SW than in FW (P < 0.01). In SW, K_{S (PROTEIN)} was highest in fish in the HD population (P < 0.05), whereas lens protein retention in the HD group was significantly lower than the CD group (P = 0.01). In a second model assuming that His from lens NAH is available for protein synthesis, calculated values of K_{S (PROTEIN)} ranged between 0.17% day^?1 (17.6 μg g^?1 day^?1) and 0.48% day^?1 (70.2 μg g^?1 day^?1). Cataract scores recorded in the His populations at a later point (day 204), showed that the CD fish had significantly higher mean cataract scores than individuals in the HD population (P < 0.01), confirming that low levels of lens His and NAH are associated with cataract development.