Effects of a high‐fat and high‐carbohydrate diet on appetite regulation and central AMPK in the hypothalamus of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala)

Adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a sensor of cellular energy changes and controls food intake. This study investigates the effect of a high‐calorie diet (high fat diet [HFD], high carbohydrate diet [HCD] and high energy diet [HED]) on appetite and central AMPK in blunt snout bream. In the present study, fish (average initial weight 45.84 ± 0.07 g) were fed the control, HFD, HCD and HED in four replicates for 12 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, the result showed that body mass index, specific growth rate, feed efficiency ratio and feed intake were not affected (p > 0.05) by dietary treatment. However, fish fed the HFD obtained a significantly higher (p