Fish were initially fasted for 1 day, 1 wk, or 3 wk. Fasted fish were then fed, and blood was collected at 4-h intervals over 26 h. After the various periods of fasting, basal levels of insulin were relatively constant, whereas those of IGF-I, IGFBPs and GH changed in proportion to the duration of the fast. A single meal caused a rapid, large increase in the circulating insulin levels, but the degree of the increase was influenced by the fasting period. IGF-I showed a moderate increase 2 h after the meal but only in the regularly fed fish. Plasma levels of 41-kDa IGFBP were increased in all groups within 6 h after the single meal. The fasting period did not influence the response of 41-kDa IGFBP to the meal. IGFBP-1 and GH decreased after the meal to the same extent among groups regardless of the fasting period. The present study shows that insulin and IGF-I respond differently to long (weeks)-and short (hours)-term nutritional changes in salmon; insulin maintains its basal level but changes acutely in response to food intake, whereas IGF-I adjusts its basal levels to the long-term nutritional status and is less responsive to acute nutritional input. IGFBPs maintain their sensitivity to food intake, even after prolonged fasting, suggesting their critical role in the nutritional regulation of salmon growth.fasting; refeeding; growth; metabolism GROWTH OCCURS WHEN THERE IS a net positive difference between the anabolic and catabolic processes of metabolism. Metabolism rapidly shifts between anabolic and catabolic processes on the order of minutes to hours, depending on current energy intake and expenditures. Growth varies at longer time scales of days to weeks and even months, depending on net energy intake averaged over these same days and weeks. Metabolism directly responds to current stimuli, while changes in growth rate are due not only to current intake but also to nutrient reserves stored over time. Thus growth is integrally connected to metabolism.Regulation of growth and metabolism is among the primary functions of the endocrine system. Both growth and metabolism are mediated and modulated through a myriad of differing factors that include integration and stimulation through the hypothalamic-pituitary axis; however, some primary mediators have been identified in the peripheral circulation (23). Pancreatic hormones such as insulin and glucagon are important regulators of anabolic and catabolic processes, respectively (24, 33). Growth is mediated through the actions of growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I system. Interestingly, insulin and IGF-I are structurally related peptides, which arose from gene duplications before the emergence of the Chondrichthyes (8). Endocrine mechanisms have developed such that these structurally similar hormones modulate differing yet linked aspects of the physiology of metabolism and growth.The kinetics of insulin and total IGF-I in the circulation are markedly different. Circulating insulin shows a rapid change in response to a meal and its half-life in the c...