The functions of ghrelin, a novel weight-regulatory peptide, have not been intensively investigated in amphibians. The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of exogenous, mammalian ghrelin on the carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of two Palearctic Anurans: the common toad (Bufo bufo) and the common frog (Rana temporaria). Twenty-eight common toads and 20 common frogs were injected daily with purified human Ser3-acylated ghrelin at 10 μg kg–1d–1 or with 0.9 % saline into the dorsal lymph sac for four days. Exogenous ghrelin decreased the plasma total cholesterol (Chol) and LDL-Chol concentrations and increased the HDL-LDL ratios of the common frogs. The liver lipase activities decreased but the fat body lipase activities increased due to the ghrelin treatment. Ghrelin did not influence the measured variables in the common toad. In addition to stimulating growth hormone and prolactin secretion in amphibians, ghrelin also influences their lipid metabolism.
The activity of α-amylase, glucoamylase, maltase, trehalase, glycogen phosphorylase and trehalose phosphorylase was measured in extracts from larval and adult Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi, 1802), parasitic nematode of marine fish. The content of glycogen and trehalose in the worm's body was also determined. Both the hydrolytic and phosphorolytic paths of sugar decomposition are present in H. aduncum. In the larvae glycogen was utilised mainly via the hydrolytic path. In the adults the activities of phosphorolytic enzymes were higher than in the larvae. In both stages the activity of trehalose phosphorylase is present. In adult nematodes it is uncommonly high. The dominating sugars in the adults were glucose and glycogen, while in the larvae it was trehalose.