Intracellular pH Regulation, Acid-Base Balance , and Metabolism after Exhaustive Exercise in Rainbow Trout (Salmo gairdneri) and Starry Flounder (Platichthys stellatus)

Abstract

This thesis examined the effects of exhaustive exercise on acid-base and metabolite status in the intracellular and extracellular compartments of two very different fish species: the active, pelagic rainbow trout, and the sluggish, benthic starry flounder. In both species, exhaustive exercise resulted in an acidosis in the extracellular compartment of mixed respiratory and metabolic origin. Despite the reduction in pHe, red blood cell pHi was well regulated, though more precisely in trout than in flounder. Catecholamines were mobilized into the blood after exercise in trout but not in flounder. Circulating catecholamines may play an important role in regulating red blood cell (RBC) pHi in trout after exercise. In trout, lactate appeared in the blood in excess of H+ ; the reverse pattern was observed in flounder. H+ appearance was similar in both species. Differential release of lactate from the muscle mass was apparently responsible for this discrepancy. After exhaustive exercise, both trout and flounder experienced a severe intracellular acidosis in the white muscle, as measured by 14c-DMO (5,5-dimethyl -2,4-oxazolidinenione) distribution. H+ and lactate were not produced in equimolar quantities, with H+ produced in excess of lactate. Muscle lactate and H+ production was about 3-fold lower in flounder than in trout. The muscle intracellular acid-base disturbance was corrected more rapidly in flounder (4-8h) than in trout (8-12h). In flounder, this occurred prior to , but in trout after , correction of the extracellular acidosis. In flounder, a more rapid correction of muscle metabolite status was associated with the more rapid correction of the intracellular acidosis. After exercise there was a reduction in the whole body extracellular fluid volume and expansion of the intracellular fluid volume, largely reflecting changes within the muscle. This fluid shift resulted in a general hemoconcentration. Exercise led to a transient increase in net H+ excretion in both trout and flounder. Negligible amounts of lactate were transferred to the water. In flounder, about 20% of the total H+ load produced passed through the extracellular space and was transiently stored in the water, which appeared to hasten correction of the intracellular acid-base disturbance. In contrast, in trout, a much smaller portion of the acid load (about 6%), though about the same absolute amount as in flounder, was transferred to the water. This appeared to expedite correction of the extracellular acidosis.The results of this thesis argue against a prominent role for the Cori cycle in the final disposition of the lactate burden produced during exercise. Instead, it is suggested that the bulk of the lactate was metabolized in situ, either by oxidation or glyconeogenesis. In flounder, this was almost the sole fate of lactate, as very little appeared in the blood space. In trout, a significant portion of the lactate was exported to the blood, which was taken up and metabolized by aerobic tissues.