A new technique of feeding, repeated sampling of blood and continuous collection of urine in white sturgeon

Summary

A new technique combining oesophageal intubation, dorsal aorta cannulation, and urinary catheterization was developed to monitor concentration of nutrients in the blood circulation and their metabolites in the urine of 1-2 kg white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus. Three experiments were conducted to assess the technique based on: (1) quantitative delivery of nutrients; (2) stress levels post-operation; and (3) monitoring of nutrients in the blood and metabolites in the urine. In Experiment 1, recovery of intubated Cr2O3 was 105 +/- 5% (mean +/- SEM, n = 3) 3 h after intubation. In Experiment 2, plasma cortisol and glucose concentrations returned to respective basal levels of 8.2 +/- 1.8 ng ml(-1) and 74 +/- 8 mg dl(-1) (n = 9) 48 h post-operation. In Experiment 3, sturgeon intubated with 1 g kg(-1) body weight of glucose or dextrin at 48 h post-operation showed a significantly different (p < 0.05) peak plasma glucose level of 139 +/- 4 and 100 +/- 5 mg dl(-1) (n = 5), respectively, at 4 h. Urinary glucose excretion was 1.8 +/- 0.9 mg kg(-1) h(-1) (n = 5) 4-8 h after intubation with glucose. Our results show that the new technique allows quantitative delivery of nutrients, repeated sampling of blood, and continuous collection of urine in white sturgeon with minimum stress.