“…Following similar patterns reported in rainbow trout, coho salmon, common carp ( Cyprinus carpio), channel catfish, gilthead sea bream and Japanese eel ( Anguilla japonica ) (Shamblott et al, 1995; Tse et al, 2002; Vong et al, 2003; Carnevali et al, 2005; Petersen et al, 2005; Moriyama et al, 2008; Pierce et al, 2010), animals in this study showed markedly elevated hepatic igf2 expression following Gh treatment (Fig. 4E), similar to responses in intact animals (Eppler et al, 2010; Pierce et al, 2011; Shved et al, 2011). While multiple lines of evidence support the operation of Igf1, as opposed to Igf2, as the primary somatomedin in post-embryonic mammals (Le Roith et al, 2001), in light of the demonstrated bioactivity of native recombinant Igf2 to stimulate growth in tilapia (Chen et al, 2000) our data linking Gh with igf2 in hypophysectomized animals suggest that Igf2 should be further investigated as a possible somatomedin in tilapia.…”