spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online June 29, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 2734-2738 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02279
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lai, J. C. C.
Right arrow Articles by Randall, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lai, J. C. C.
Right arrow Articles by Randall, D.

Effects of moderate and substantial hypoxia on erythropoietin levels in rainbow trout kidney and spleen

Jimmy C. C. Lai1, Izuru Kakuta2, Helen O. L. Mok1, Jodie L. Rummer3 and David Randall1,*

1 Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China
2 Department of Biotechnology, Senshu University of Ishinomaki, 1 Shinmito, Minamisak, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 986-8580, Japan
3 Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: bhrand{at}cityu.edu.hk)

Accepted 18 April 2006

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone that regulates the proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells in mammals. Although EPO has been identified in fish, the specific function and effects of hypoxia have not been investigated previously. In this study, we have demonstrated a relationship between increases in renal EPO levels and decreases in spleen EPO levels and spleen-somatic index (SSI), with increases in haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in the blood during hypoxia exposure in rainbow trout. Splenic contraction and the subsequent red blood cell release accounts for the initial increase in Hb concentration in the blood, whereas EPO action probably accounts for the later increases in hemoglobin concentration in the blood. Our data indicate that fish and mammalian erythropoietic systems are similar in response to hypoxia, in that erythropoiesis in fish is influenced by EPO.

Key words: erythropoietin, erythropoiesis, hypoxia, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, red blood cells, spleen somatic index






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006