A comparison of plasma vitamin C and E levels in two Antarctic and two temperate water fish species

Antarctic fish have a high polyunsaturated lipid content and their muscle cells have a high mitochondria density suggesting that Antarctic fish are under greater oxidative stress than temperate water fish. To test this hypothesis, the plasma concentrations of the antioxidant vitamins E and C were me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2000-03, Vol.125 (3), p.371-378
Main Authors: Gieseg, Steven P, Cuddihy, Sarah, Hill, Jonathan V, Davison, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Animals
Antarctic
Antarctic Regions
Antioxidant
Ascorbic Acid - blood
Cholesterol - blood
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - analysis
Fish
Fishes - blood
Free radical
Heat stress
New Zealand
Notolabrus fucicola
Pagothenia borchgrevinki
Parapercis colias
Temperature
Trematomus bernacchii
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Vitamin E - blood
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Summary:Antarctic fish have a high polyunsaturated lipid content and their muscle cells have a high mitochondria density suggesting that Antarctic fish are under greater oxidative stress than temperate water fish. To test this hypothesis, the plasma concentrations of the antioxidant vitamins E and C were measured in two Antarctic fish species, Pagothenia borchgrevinki and Trematomus bernacchii, and compared with the plasma concentrations of these vitamins in two New Zealand temperate water fish species, blue cod ( Parapercis colias) and banded wrasse ( Notolabrus fucicola). Neither vitamin is known to be synthesised in fish and so must be obtained from the diet. The plasma from both Antarctic fish species had vitamin E concentrations five to six times higher than those found in the two temperate water fish species. However, significantly higher levels of vitamin C were only found in the plasma of T. bernacchii, a benthic Antarctic fish. The average level of vitamin C in the plasma of the cryopelagic P. borchgrevinki was approximately one-third that of T. bernacchii. The T. bernacchii plasma yielded a high range of vitamin C values, possibly reflecting differences in nutritional status among the animals captured. No β-carotene was found in any of the fish plasma samples studied. The data suggest that even though Antarctic fish live at −1.5°C they may be exposed to greater metabolic stress from free radical mediated oxidation than temperate water species.
ISSN:1096-4959
0305-0491
1879-1107
DOI:10.1016/S0305-0491(99)00186-8