Integrative Crosstalk between food intake and growth function.

CANOSA LF; GOMEZ-REQUENI P; CERDÁ-REVERTER JM

Trout: from physiology to conservation.

Nova Science Publishers, Inc

Lugar: New York; Año: 2013; p. 193 - 253

Somatic growth is regulated by a complex system that includes growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and their specific receptors and circulating binding protein. The growth process requires nutrients and energy input and therefore the somatotropic axis must be functionally coordinated with the control of energy balance. As a consequence the central and peripheral regulatory network for GH secretion includes several factors involved in the control of food intake such as NPY, CCK, ghrelin, and leptin. In addition, somatic growth competes with other physiological processes such as reproduction and energy stores and therefore a cross-talk between reproduction and growth also takes place. Common regulatory checkpoints are used in the coordination of both feeding and reproduction with the somatotropic axis. This complex interplay between nutrients, energy and the somatotropic axis will be discussed in this chapter with  specific reference to the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss.