Effect of steroid injection on food utilization in Channa striatus

Abstract

Synthetic anabolic sex steroid hormones such as methyltestosterone (MT), testosterone (T), testosterone propionate (TP), estroid (ED), diethylstilbesterol (DES), diethylstilbesterol dipropionate (DES dipro) and docabolin (DN) were tested separately for their effect on food utilization in Channa striatus. Injection of low dosages of DES, DES dipro and TP acts as appetite depressors and Dn, MT, Ed and T as stimulators. MT, Ed and Dn induced not only increased feeding but also increased conversion. T promoted growth along with food consumption. Though DES and DES dipro suppressed feeding; individuals receiving these hormones showed increased growth with increasing dosage.