Protective Effects of Bile Acids Against Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Hybrid Grouper Fed a High-Lipid Diet

Jia Xu; Xiaoyue Li; Xinzhou Yao; Shiwei Xie; Shuyan Chi; Shuang Zhang; Junming Cao; Beiping Tan

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.813249

Protective Effects of Bile Acids Against Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Hybrid Grouper Fed a High-Lipid Diet

Front Nutr. 2022 Jan 25:9:813249. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.813249. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jia Xu¹, Xiaoyue Li¹, Xinzhou Yao¹, Shiwei Xie^{1

2

3}, Shuyan Chi^{1

2

3}, Shuang Zhang^{1

2

3}, Junming Cao^{1

2

3}, Beiping Tan^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Nutrition and Feed, Fisheries College, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China.
² Aquatic Animals Precision Nutrition and High Efficiency Feed Engineering Research Center of Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Aquatic, Livestock and Poultry Feed Science and Technology in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, Zhanjiang, China.

Abstract

Bile acids (BAs) usually display growth-promoting and lipid-lowering properties when supplemented to the diet. The effects of a high-lipid diet (HD) and BAs supplementation on growth performance and lipid deposition of hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀ × E. lanceolatus♂) was evaluated in this study. Compared to the control diet (CD), the HD did not significantly affect the fish growth performance, but it promoted lipid deposition, as revealed by a significantly higher crude lipid content of the whole body, muscle, and liver. Among the HD supplemented with taurocholic acid (BD) groups, and compared to the HD, fish fed dietary supplementation of BAs at 900 mg kg^-1 exhibited the best growth performance and lowest hepatic lipid deposition. In most BD groups, the content of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides in serum, as well as the content of total cholesterol in the liver, were decreased, whereas the content of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum was increased. In addition, the most strongly influenced pathways between the control, HD, and B3D groups were fatty acid biosynthesis, insulin signaling pathway, and AMPK signaling pathway. The improvement of lipid metabolism induced by the supplementation of BAs may be attributed to decreased expression of lipogenesis genes and proteins (enzymes), and increased lipolysis. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of BAs at 900 mg kg^-1 promoted growth performance and reduced lipid accumulation, whereas BAs supplementation improved the hepatic lipid metabolism by enhancing hepatic lipolysis, inhibiting lipogenesis, and regulating associated transcriptional factors in hybrid grouper.

Keywords: fish; growth performance; high-fat diet; lipid metabolism; taurocholic acid.