Effects of a single-phase fasting period and subsequent re-feeding on compensatory growth, digestive enzyme activities, and antioxidant capacity of sobaity (Sparidentex hasta) and yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus)

An eight-week research was carried out to examine the influence of fasting (FA) and refeeding (RF) episodes on the compensatory growth responses (CGR) in sobaity (Sparidentex hasta, 10 g) and yellowfin seabreams (Acanthopagrus latus, 4.3 g) juveniles. Fish were fed with a commercial feed (contained 500 g kg⁻¹ crude protein and 150 g kg⁻¹ crude lipid) as following regimes: control (C, fish were fed three times every day), T₁ (two weeks of feeding, one week of FA, and five weeks of RF), T₂ (one week of feeding, two weeks of FA and five weeks of RF) and T₃ (three weeks of FA and five weeks of RF). Two hundred and forty S. hasta juveniles were stocked into twelve 300-L tanks (20 fish tank⁻¹), and 360 A. latus juveniles were allocated into other 12 tanks (30 fish tank⁻¹). Each treatment was carried out in triplicates for each species, and each tank held only one of the species. The experiment was carried out for both species simultaneously. The weight and length of fish from the four groups were measured individually after the third week (after FA episode) and after eight weeks (after RF episode). After finishing the RF episode (eighth week), six fish of each tank were sacrificed with an overdose of 2-phenoxyethanol (1000 mg L^–1), and the liver and the whole gut of the sacrificed fish were sampled, dissected, and then kept in a freezer (−80°C) until further analyses. Survival rate was decreased in S. hasta juveniles with increasing the FA period mainly due to their cannibalistic behavior, which was triggered by starvation, but it was not affected in A. latus. The fasted groups in both species significantly lost their weight after FA episodes. After five weeks of RF, S. hasta showed full compensatory growth response; meanwhile A. latus had a partial compensatory response (P<0.05). Hepatosomatic index value decreased after the FA period in both species, but it was restored to the normal level after RF phase. The activities of liver catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione-S-transferase, and glutathione peroxidase were increased in T₂ group in S. hasta, but liver antioxidant enzymes were not affected in A. latus. In both species, the amount of the lipid peroxidation was significantly increased in the liver of fish groups subjected to T₂ or T₃ compared to T₁ and control groups (P<0.05). Liver alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in S. hasta fasted for two weeks were higher than the other groups. The activities of trypsin, chymotrypsin, α-amylase, and lipase in S. hasta fasted for a week (T₁) were higher than control. In addition, the activities of trypsin and chymotrypsin in A. latus fasted for two or three weeks were lower than C and T₁ groups. The activity of ALP was increased with increasing FA period in both species. The findings of the present study showed that single-phase FA episodes reduce survival and induce oxidative stress in S. hasta juveniles; meanwhile A. latus juveniles did not show complete compensatory growth after RF episode.