Effects of Tributyrin Supplementation on Growth Performance, Intestinal Digestive Enzyme Activity, Antioxidant Capacity, and Inflammation-Related Gene Expression of Large Yellow Croaker (Larimichthys crocea) Fed with a High Level of Clostridium autoethanogenum Protein

Xiuneng Wang; Min Wan; Zhen Wang; Haitao Zhang; Si Zhu; Xiufei Cao; Ning Xu; Jichang Zheng; Xianyong Bu; Wei Xu; Kangsen Mai; Qinghui Ai

doi:10.1155/2023/2687734

Effects of Tributyrin Supplementation on Growth Performance, Intestinal Digestive Enzyme Activity, Antioxidant Capacity, and Inflammation-Related Gene Expression of Large Yellow Croaker (Larimichthys crocea) Fed with a High Level of Clostridium autoethanogenum Protein

Aquac Nutr. 2023 Feb 6:2023:2687734. doi: 10.1155/2023/2687734. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiuneng Wang¹, Min Wan¹, Zhen Wang¹, Haitao Zhang², Si Zhu¹, Xiufei Cao¹, Ning Xu¹, Jichang Zheng¹, Xianyong Bu¹, Wei Xu^{1

3}, Kangsen Mai^{1

3}, Qinghui Ai^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Aquaculture Nutrition and Feed (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair) and Key Laboratory of Mariculture (Ministry of Education), Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
² Guangdong Evergreen Feed Industry Co., Ltd., Key Laboratory of Aquatic, Livestock and Poultry Feed Science and Technology in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhanjiang 524000, China.
³ Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, 1 Wenhai Road, Qingdao 266003, China.

Abstract

An 8-week growth experiment was conducted to investigate effects of tributyrin (TB) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, antioxidant capacity, and inflammation-related gene expression of juvenile large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) (initial weight of 12.90 ± 0.02 g) fed diets with high level of Clostridium autoethanogenum protein (CAP). In the negative control diet, 40% fish meal was used as the major source of protein (named as FM), while 45% fish meal protein of FM was substituted with CAP (named as FC) to form a positive control diet. Based on the FC diet, grade levels of 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.8% tributyrin were added to formulate other five experimental diets. Results showed that fish fed diets with high levels of CAP significantly decreased the weight gain rate (WGR) and specific growth rate (SGR) compared with fish fed the FM diet (P < 0.05). WGR and SGR were significantly higher than in fish fed diets with 0.05% and 0.1% tributyrin that fed the FC diet (P < 0.05). Supplementation of 0.1% tributyrin significantly elevated fish intestinal lipase and protease activities compared to FM and FC diets (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, compared to fish fed the FC diet, fish fed diets with 0.05% and 0.1% tributyrin showed remarkably higher intestinal total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). Malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the intestine of fish fed diets with 0.05%-0.4% tributyrin was remarkably lower than those in the fish fed the FC diet (P < 0.05). The mRNA expressions of tumor necrosis factor α (tnfα), interleukin-1β (il-1β), interleukin-6 (il-6), and interferon γ (ifnγ) were significantly downregulated in fish fed diets with 0.05%-0.2% tributyrin, and the mRNA expression of il-10 was significantly upregulated in fish fed the 0.2% tributyrin diet (P < 0.05). In regard to antioxidant genes, as the supplementation of tributyrin increased from 0.05% to 0.8%, the mRNA expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (nrf2) demonstrated a trend of first rising and then decreasing. However, the mRNA expression of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (keap1) was remarkably lower in fish fed the FC diet than that fed diets with tributyrin supplementation (P < 0.05). Overall, fish fed tributyrin supplementation diets can ameliorate the negative effects induced by high proportion of CAP in diets, with an appropriate supplementation of 0.1%.