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

A new technique combining oesophageal intubation, dorsal aorta cannulation, and urinary catheterization was developed to monitor concentration of nutr ients 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 blo od and metabolites in the urine. In Experiment 1, recovery of intubated Cr2 O3 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-o peration. In Experiment 3, sturgeon intubated with 1 g kg(-1) body weight o f glucose or dextrin at 48 h post-operation showed a significantly differen t (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 m g kg(-1) h(-1) (n = 5) 4-8 h after intubation with glucose. Our results sho w that the new technique allows quantitative delivery of nutrients, repeate d sampling of blood, and continuous collection of urine in white sturgeon w ith minimum stress.