The hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis, involved in the regulation of the neuroendocrine stress responses, presents important players such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH, generally considered as the initiator of this pathway) and CRH-binding protein (CRH-BP, considered as an antagonist of CRH function). CRH and CRH-BP full-length cDNA sequences were obtained from Sparus aurata by screening a brain cDNA library, and their phylogenetic analysis as well as their roles during acute and chronic stress responses were assessed. mRNA expression levels and plasma cortisol concentrations were measured by RT qPCR and ELISA, respectively, in S. aurata juveniles submitted to: i) different environmental salinities in a short-time course response; and ii) food deprivation during 21 days. In addition, osmoregulatory and metabolic parameters in plasma corroborated a clear reorganization depending on the stress source/period. Salinity transfer induced stress as indicated by enhanced plasma cortisol levels, as well as by up-regulated CRH and down-regulated CRH-BP expression values. On the other hand, food deprivation did not affect both expression levels, although plasma cortisol concentrations were enhanced. These results suggest that different stressors are handled through different stress pathways in S. aurata.

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To investigate the physiological roles of arginine vasotocin (AVT) and isotocin (IT) in osmoregulatory process in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), a time course study (0, 12h, and 1, 3, 7 and 14 days) has been performed in specimens submitted to hypoosmotic (from 40‰ salinity to 5‰ salinity) or hyperosmotic (from 40‰ salinity to 55‰ salinity) challenges. Plasma and liver osmoregulatory and metabolic parameters, as well as AVT and IT pituitary contents were determined concomitantly with hypothalamic pro-vasotocin (pro-VT) and pro-isotocin (pro-IT) mRNA expression levels. Previously, sequences coding for pro-VT and pro-IT cDNAs were cloned. Two osmoregulatory periods related to plasma osmolality and metabolic parameter variations could be distinguished: i) an adaptative period, from 12h to 3 days after transfer, and ii) a chronic regulatory period, starting at day 3 after transfer. Higher values in hypothalamic pro-VT and pro-IT mRNA expression as well as in pituitary AVT and IT storage levels in both hypo- and/or hyper-osmotic transfers have been distinguished. These increase correlated with changes in plasma cortisol levels, suggesting an interaction between this hormone and pro-VT expression. Furthermore, pro-IT expression enhancement also suggests a role of the isotocinergic system as a modulator in the acute stress response induced by hyper-osmotic challenge in S. aurata.

The endocrine axis controlling the stress response displays daily rhythms in many factors such as adrenal sensitivity and cortisol secretion. These rhythms have mostly been described in mammals, whereas they are poorly understood in teleost fish, so that their impact on fish welfare in aquaculture remains unexplored. In the present research, the authors investigated the daily rhythms in the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis in the flatfish Solea senegalensis, which has both scientific and commercial interest. In a first experiment, hypothalamic expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone (crh) and its binding protein (crhbp), both pituitary proopiomelanocortin A and B (pomca and pomcb) expression, as well as plasma cortisol, glucose, and lactate levels were analyzed throughout a 24-h cycle. All variables displayed daily rhythms (cosinor, p < .05), with acrophases varying depending on the factor analyzed: crh and cortisol peaked at the beginning of the dark phase (zeitgeber time [ZT] = 14.5 and 14.4 h, respectively), pomca and pomcb as well as glucose at the beginning of the light phase (ZT = 1.2, 2.4, and 3.4 h, respectively), and crhbp and lactate at the end of the dark phase (ZT = 22.3 and 23.0 h, respectively). In a second experiment, the influence of an acute stressor (30 s of air exposure), applied at two different time points (ZT 1 and ZT 13), was tested. The stress response differed depending on the time of day, showing higher cortisol values (96.2 ± 10.7 ng/mL) when the stressor was applied at ZT 1 than at ZT 13 (52.6 ± 11.1 ng/mL). This research describes for the first time the daily rhythms in endocrine factors of the HPI axis of the flatfish S. senegalensis, and the influence of daytime on the stress responses. A better knowledge of the chronobiology of fish provides a helpful tool for understanding the circadian physiology of the stress response, and for designing timely sound protocols to improve fish welfare in aquaculture.