Hematological Aspects of the Thermoacclimatory Process in the Rainbow Trout, Salmo gairdneri

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2267-2281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Anne DeWilde ◽  
A. H. Houston

The blood oxygen capacity of the rainbow trout has been investigated as a function of thermal acclimation in terms of erythrocyte abundance, packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentrations, and mean erythrocytic volume and hemoglobin content. Fish at the lower acclimation temperatures employed (3, 7 C) were characterized by relatively low erythrocyte counts, hematocrits, and hemoglobin levels. Mean erythrocyte volumes tended to be relatively high, whereas mean erythrocytic hemoglobin content was somewhat below that typical of the higher temperature groups. In general, animals held at intermediate temperatures (11, 14, 17 C) showed significant increases in oxygen-carrying capacity by comparison with cold-acclimated fish. Finally trout at 21 C typically had larger numbers of somewhat smaller red cells, more hemoglobin, and higher levels of hemoglobin per erythrocyte than either the low- or intermediate-temperature fish. Significant differences were observed between summer and fall–winter series of trout, particularly with respect to hemoglobin levels. The results are discussed in relation to the general problem of respiratory thermoadaptation.

1982 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-334
Author(s):  
F. M. Smith ◽  
D. R. Jones

1. Changes in ventilation volume (Vg) of rainbow trout caused by hypercapnia, hypoxia and anaemia were measured directly by collection of expired water. 2. Exposure to hypercapnic water (PCO2 range 0.5-2 kPa) increased Vg (by up to four times) by augmenting ventilatory stroke volume; breathing frequency remained constant. O2 added to the inspired water in maintained hypercapnia reduced Vg at all but the highest level of PCO2. 3. Vg increased when blood oxygen content was decreased by exposure to normoxic hypercapnia, but addition of O2 to the water increased blood oxygen content and Vg decreased. 4. When blood oxygen-carrying capacity was depressed by hypoxia or anaemia, Vg increased as it did during normoxic hypercapnia. 5. We suggest that ventilatory responses to low levels of hypercapnia, to hyperoxic hypercapnia, to hypoxia, and to anaemia in trout are related to changes in levels of blood oxygen content under these conditions.


2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Eklom ◽  
Alan Lill

Growth profile variation among altricial bird species is reflected in variation in development patterns of parameters influencing blood oxygen carrying capacity (O2Cap). Rainbow bee-eater nestlings develop slowly and their asymptotic mass reaches or exceeds adult levels before undergoing prefledging recession (mass overshoot–recession profile, MOR). Erythrocyte count (RBC), blood hemoglobin content (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) increased 2.5-fold during development. Hatchlings’ erythrocyte volume closely approximated adult levels and decreased by only 1% during development. Erythrocyte hemoglobin content and concentration also increased minimally. RBC and Hb increased throughout development, but Hct increase was restricted to early development, overlapping the mass-gain period by just 37%. Blood parameters influencing O2Cap did not exceed adult levels and then decline during the mass asymptote–recession development stage. Continuing increase in RBC and Hb at this stage contributed to attaining a fledging O2Cap of adult levels. Results were consistent with there being a common mechanism regulating developmental increase in O2Cap in altricial birds. However, features of this development in bee-eater nestlings variously conformed to the patterns of both species with MOR and species with standard growth profiles. Some features shared with other MOR species also differed in timing or pattern in bee-eater nestlings.


1986 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
R. G. Boutilier ◽  
G. K. Iwama ◽  
D. J. Randall

A fall in blood pH was generated either by infusion of HCl or by reducing gill ventilation and raising blood PCO2 in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson. The acute acidosis resulting from HCl infusion caused an increase in plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations, the adrenaline increase being proportional to the decrease in blood pH. Fish subjected to a prolonged respiratory acidosis, caused by a reduction in gill ventilation, showed no increase in catecholamines 24 h after the change in gill ventilation. We suggest that catecholamine levels increase in response to a pH decrease, but if acidotic conditions are maintained, circulating catecholamines return to low levels. There was a much smaller decrease in erythrocytic pH with a fall in plasma pH when catecholamine levels were high. This ameliorating effect of catecholamines on erythrocytic pH during a plasma acidosis maintains the oxygen-carrying capacity of the haemoglobin. If erythrocytic pH was decreased by increasing blood PCO2 in vitro, then there was a fall in haemoglobin oxygen-carrying capacity which was proportional to the reduction in pH. We conclude that catecholamines are released into the blood in proportion to the fall in blood pH but if the pH is maintained the circulating catecholamines return to their initial low levels. The elevated catecholamine concentrations in blood safeguard against any impairment of haemoglobin oxygen-carrying capacity by maintaining erythrocytic pH in the face of a plasma acidosis.


1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1069-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. Cameron ◽  
John C. Davis

The effects of large changes in hemoglobin concentration were studied in rainbow trout in fresh water between 8 and 14 C. Anemia was produced by injecting phenylhydrazine hydrochloride or by replacing blood with either saline or plasma.No significant changes were observed in the rate of oxygen consumption, arterial or venous oxygen tensions, ventilation volume, inspired and expired water oxygen tensions, or dorsal aortic blood pressure. The primary compensatory mechanism invoked was an increase in the cardiac output, which was accomplished almost entirely by increases in stroke volume. Although the viscosity of the blood was reduced, there must also be large changes in the peripheral resistance to blood flow, since greatly increased cardiac output was achieved without significant increase in blood pressure.The change in blood oxygen capacity and increase in cardiac output caused significant lowering of the ventilation–perfusion ratio, but the capacity–rate ratio of water to blood varied only a little. A small rise occurred at low hematocrit values, due to small changes in a number of parameters.The experiments illustrate what happens when blood oxygen capacity is reduced, but do not elucidate the mechanism for control of stroke output of the heart. They also indicate that a species' hemoglobin level is maintained at a level that allows cardiac output to vary over an optimal range of its efficiency curve.


2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Davey ◽  
Alan Lill ◽  
John Baldwin

Parameters that influence blood oxygen carrying capacity (whole-blood haemoglobin content, haematocrit and red blood cell count) were measured in samples of 30 breeding, adult short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) on Phillip Island, Victoria at seven key stages of their reproductive cycle. The aim of the investigation was to determine whether variation in blood oxygen carrying capacity during the birds’ 7-month breeding cycle was correlated with variation in the energy demands they experienced or was an incidental by-product of other physiological changes. All the blood parameters varied significantly during breeding, but the pattern of variation was only partly correlated with the likely pattern of changing energy demand imposed on parents by their schedule of breeding activities. The main trend conceivably related to energy demand was that significantly higher values were recorded for these blood parameters during the nestling stage than earlier in the breeding cycle. This could have reflected the high costs of the very long foraging trips undertaken by parents feeding nestlings, but it could also have occurred in preparation for the long migration undertaken soon after breeding finished. It involved an ~10% increase in blood oxygen carrying capacity above the lowest mean value recorded during the breeding cycle and so other mechanisms must also be employed to achieve the increase in aerobic metabolism likely to be required at this stage. The lack of adjustment of blood oxygen carrying capacity to energy demand early in the breeding cycle suggests that either oxygen delivery was not a rate-limiting process for aerobic metabolism at that time or that delivery was enhanced through other mechanisms. At egg laying, females had a lower haematocrit and erythrocyte count than males, which could be attributable to either estrogenic suppression of erythropoiesis or an increase in osmotic pressure of the blood associated with yolk synthesis. Immature, non-breeding birds attending the colony were of similar mass to adults, but did not show the increase in the parameters determining blood oxygen carrying capacity that occurred in adults later in the breeding cycle. Factors other than changing energy requirements (dehydration, burrow hypoxia and differential responsiveness to capture stress) that might have influenced the pattern of variation in blood oxygen carrying capacity of adults during breeding are discussed.


1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Neville

Dorsal aorta blood samples were taken from cannulated rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) exposed to pH 4.0 (acid group) or pH 7.0 (controls) in normocapnic conditions at 10 °C. Over a 5-d period there was a significant gradual decrease in pH and total CO2 in the acid group but no significant difference in pO2 and lactate compared to the controls. After uncannulated rainbow trout were exposed to the same conditions for 12 d there were significant increases in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and erythrocyte levels in caudal vein samples from the acid group. The results show that rainbow trout exposed to acid without hypercapnia develop acidaemia which is not a result of anaerobic respiration. The increase in erythrocyte concentration probably offsets the effects of acidaemia upon blood oxygen carrying capacity. Differences in ambient pCO2 and/or species differences could account for varying acid-base values in acid exposed fish reported by different workers. Key words: environmental acidification, acidaemia, lactate, pH, total carbonate, fish


2006 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 725-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kui Xu ◽  
Joseph C. LaManna

Exposure to mild hypoxia elicits a characteristic cerebrovascular response in mammals, including humans. Initially, cerebral blood flow (CBF) increases as much as twofold. The blood flow increase is blunted somewhat by a decreasing arterial Pco2 as a result of the hypoxia-induced hyperventilatory response. After a few days, CBF begins to fall back toward baseline levels as the blood oxygen-carrying capacity is increasing due to increasing hemoglobin concentration and packed red cell volume as a result of erythropoietin upregulation. By the end of 2 wk of hypoxic exposure, brain capillary density has increased with resultant decreased intercapillary distances. The relative time courses of these changes suggest that they are adjusted by different control signals and mechanisms. The CBF response appears linked to the blood oxygen-carrying capacity, whereas the hypoxia-induced brain angiogenesis appears to be in response to tissue hypoxia.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Box ◽  
A. Lill ◽  
J. Baldwin

The responses of small birds to many seasonal energy challenges include enhancement of aspects of aerobic metabolism, sometimes involving an increase in the rate of oxygen delivery to the metabolising tissues. One such mechanism that enhances oxygen delivery seasonally is an increase in blood oxygen carrying capacity. This response is enhanced in birds because of their rapid erythrocyte turnover rate. Some small birds have also evolved winter fattening, which helps them to meet the energy challenge presented by winter conditions. Such adaptations, while well documented for North Temperate birds, have received little attention in birds inhabiting temperate Australia. Over a two-year period, we examined seasonal changes in mass, an approximate indicator of fattening, and the parameters determining blood oxygen carrying capacity in a population of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) in outer Melbourne, Australia. Body mass did not vary significantly seasonally, but haematocrit and whole blood haemoglobin were significantly higher in the breeding season than at other times of year and the erythrocyte count was significantly higher in spring than in autumn. We conclude that the failure of the fairy-wrens to increase mass in winter (i.e. show marked winter fattening) was probably due to the comparative mildness of the climate and to the known fitness costs of fat storage. The significant 18% increase in blood oxygen carrying capacity in spring probably helped the birds to meet the additional energy requirements of breeding, particularly the likely increase in flight activity. However, given the magnitude of the increase, other mechanisms must have been involved in meeting breeding costs. The seasonal peak in blood oxygen carrying capacity did not coincide with the time when moulting was most pronounced.


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