Activity levels of enzymes of energy metabolism in heart and red muscle are higher in north-temperate-zone than in Amazonian teleosts

Fish living in the Amazon basin typically have body temperatures of about 30°C, whereas freshwater fishes of the north-temperate zone are eurythermal, with typical body temperatures of 10-20°C in summer. Enzyme activity levels in heart and red muscle of Amazonian species, which display various physiological mechanisms for dealing with hypoxic conditions, were compared with those in north-temperate-zone species. Five Amazonian species (acará-açu (Astronotus ocellatus), acari-bodó (Lipossarcus pardalis), tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), tamoatá (Hoplosternum littorale), and pirarucu (Arapaima gigas)) and four north-temperate-zone species (American eel, bullhead, yellow perch, and rainbow trout) were studied. The Amazonian species included obligate and facultative air breathers. Activities of key indicator enzymes associated with carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, the citric acid cycle, and the electron-transport chain were determined. There was no obvious correlation between cardiac enzyme activity levels and the potential ability of fish to maintain blood oxygen levels in hypoxic water or the capacity of isolated heart preparations to survive anoxia. In heart, activity levels of hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, cytochrome oxidase, and β-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase were about twice as high in north-temperate-zone species than in Amazonian species. Activities of red-muscle enzymes, especially those associated with aerobic fatty acid metabolism, were significantly higher in comparable north-temperate-zone species relative to Amazonian species. Increased enzyme activity levels in north-temperate-zone species relative to Amazonian species is considered to be an adaptation to generally lower body temperatures. This finding is consistent with earlier comparisions of Antarctic and north-temperate-zone species and with the results of studies of cold acclimation within north-temperate-zone fishes.