Abstract
Four groups of juvenile Megalobrama amblycephala were fed three times daily with six semi-purified diets containing 3.39 (PA unsupplied diet), 10.54, 19.28, 31.04, 48.38 and 59.72 mg kg-1 calcium D-pantothenate. The results showed that survival rate, final weight, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and nitrogen retention efficiency all increased significantly (P<0.01) as dietary PA levels increased from 3.39 to 19.28 mg kg-1, whereas the opposite was true for feed conversion ratio. Whole-body crude protein increased as dietary PA levels increased, while the opposite pattern was found for the crude lipid content. Intestinal α-amylase, lipase, protease, Na+-K+-ATPase, alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities were all elevated in fish fed PA-supplemented diets. Hepatic catalase activities improved with increases in dietary PA, while the opposite was true for malondialdehyde contents. The liver PA concentration and coenzyme A content rose significantly (P<0.01), up to 31.04 mg kg-1, with increasing dietary PA levels and then plateaued. The percentage of hepatic saturated fatty acids increased significantly (P<0.01) as dietary PA levels increased, while the percentages of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) decreased as dietary PA increased. Fish fed diets containing 19.28 and 31.04 mg kg-1 PA exhibited higher (P<0.01) docosahexaenoic acid and PUFA percentages in muscle than those fed with other diets. The expression of the gene encoding pantothenate kinase was significantly up-regulated (P<0.01) in fish fed PA-supplemented diets. Hepatic Acetyl-CoA carboxylase α, fatty acid synthetase, stearoyl regulatory element-binding protein 1 and X receptor α genes all increased significantly (P<0.01) as dietary PA levels increased from 3.39 to 31.04 mg kg-1. Based on broken-line regression analyses of weight gain, liver CoA concentrations and PA contents against dietary PA levels, the optimal dietary PA requirements of juvenile blunt snout bream were estimated to be 24.08 mg kg-1.
Highlights
IntroductionPantothenic acid (PA) is an essential water-soluble vitamin for fish
Pantothenic acid (PA) is an essential water-soluble vitamin for fish. It participates in numerous intermediary metabolic reactions as a component of coenzyme A (CoA), which plays a crucial role in reactions which glucose, fatty acids and amino acids enter into energy-yielding tricarboxylic acid cycle, acetylation of choline to from the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and biosynthesis of fatty acids [1,2,3]
The results of this study clearly demonstrated that PA is essential for the normal growth of juvenile blunt snout bream, as was supported by the high mortality and poor growth performance observed both in fish fed the control diet
Summary
Pantothenic acid (PA) is an essential water-soluble vitamin for fish. It participates in numerous intermediary metabolic reactions as a component of coenzyme A (CoA), which plays a crucial role in reactions which glucose, fatty acids and amino acids enter into energy-yielding tricarboxylic acid cycle, acetylation of choline to from the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and biosynthesis of fatty acids [1,2,3]. Considering its significant role in intermediary metabolism, the optimal dietary PA requirement has been determined for several fish species during the past few decades, including common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus), Jian carp The growth of fish has been reported to be positively correlated with feed utilization, which depends greatly on the digestive and absorptive capacities [13]. The correlation between dietary PA levels and the digestive and absorptive capacities of fish still remains poorly understood
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