Metabolic response of dolphins to short-term fasting reveals physiological changes that differ from the traditional fasting model.

ABSTRACT: Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) typically feed on prey that are high in lipid and protein content and nearly devoid of carbohydrate, a dietary feature shared with other marine mammals. However, unlike fasted-adapted marine mammals that predictably incorporate fasting into their life history, dolphins feed intermittently throughout the day and are not believed to be fasting-adapted. To assess whether the physiological response to fasting in the dolphin shares features with or distinguishes them from those of fasting-adapted marine mammals, the plasma metabolomes of eight bottlenose dolphins were compared between post-absorptive and 24-h fasted states. Increases in most identified free fatty acids and lipid metabolites and reductions in most amino acids and their metabolites were co

SUBMITTER: Houser DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8126448 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature