The Effect of Orally Supplemented Melatonin on Larval Performance and Skeletal Deformities in Farmed Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) |
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Authors: | Kamel Mhalhel Antonino German Francesco Abbate Maria Cristina Guerrera Maria Levanti Rosaria Laur Giuseppe Montalbano |
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Affiliation: | Zebrafish Neuromorphology Lab, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy; (A.G.); (F.A.); (M.C.G.); (M.L.); (R.L.) |
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Abstract: | The gilthead seabream larval rearing in continuous light is common in most Mediterranean hatcheries to stimulate larval length growth and increase food consumption. Several studies have shown that continuous light affects larval development and increases the prevalence of skeletal deformities. Melatonin is a crucial pineal neurohormone that displays daily secretion patterns, stimulates cell proliferation and embryonic development in Atlantic salmon and zebrafish, and improves osseointegration in mice and humans. However, no studies have examined the effects of orally supplemented melatonin on skeletal deformities in Sparus aurata larvae. We administered exogenous melatonin to gilthead seabream larvae via enriched rotifers and nauplii of Artemia. Exogenous melatonin induced bone deformities and stimulated parathyroid hormone-related protein-coding gene (PTHrP) mRNA expression. In addition to the melatonin-induced PTHrP high expression level, the recorded non coordinated function of skeletal muscle and bone during growth can be the fountainhead of bone deformities. Both myosin light chain 2 (mlc2) and bone gamma-carboxyglutamate protein-coding gene (bglap) expression levels were significantly affected by melatonin administration in an inverse dose–response manner during the exogenous melatonin administration. This is the first study to report the effect of inducing melatonin bone deformities on Sparus aurata larvae reared under ordinary hatchery conditions. |
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Keywords: | melatonin opercular complex bone deformity growth Sparus aurata PTHrP mlc2 bglap |
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