Abstract
This study designed the normal diet (Con), high-lipid diet (HL), and 50 mg/kg berberine supplemented Con and HL diets (named as ConB and HLB, respectively). Fingerling black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii) (initial weight 1.47 ± 0.03 g) were fed these four diets for 8 weeks, and the liver immune response and intestinal health were evaluated. Fish fed the HL diet had the lowest serum glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities, while berberine supplementation significantly improved serum catalase activity ( P < 0.05 ). The expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnfα), nuclear factor-kappa b (nf-κb), and interleukin 1 beta (il-1β) were significantly increased by the HL diet, whereas berberine supplementation significantly downregulated these proinflammation cytokine expressions ( P < 0.05 ). Berberine supplementation in normal and high-lipid diets significantly promoted hepatic anti-inflammation cytokines interleukin-10 (il-10) and transforming growth factor beta-1 (tgfβ-1) expressions ( P < 0.05 ). The intestinal expressions of tnfα, nf-κb, and tgfβ-1 were not significantly influenced by different treatments, while Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-sod) expression was significantly upregulated in the ConB group compared with the Con group. High-lipid diet reduced intestinal villus length. the thickness of muscularis mucosa, mucosal folds, and diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota but increased numbers of goblet cells and width of lamina propria. Berberine supplementation in high-lipid diet alleviated these pathological changes and rebalanced intestinal microbiota composition. At the genus level, fish fed the HL diet had significantly lower abundances of some probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Hydrogenophaga than that of the HLB group ( P < 0.05 ). In conclusion, berberine supplementation in high-lipid diet reduced liver inflammation, improved the antioxidative status of fish, and alleviated intestinal damage and intestinal microbiota alteration of black sea bream.
Highlights
Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid that can be extracted from Coptis chinensis, Berberis thunbergii, and Hydrastis Canadensis, and it exerts various pharmacological functions, such as antitumor, antifungal, cardioprotective, and antiinflammatory effects [1]
Berberine can directly downregulate the expressions of proinflammatory cytokines, Aquaculture Nutrition such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and IL-1β, as well as indirectly affect the expressions of activator protein 1 (AP-1), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase- (MAPK-) mediated pathways to decrease the inflammation responses [4, 8]
The control diet (Con) contained 11.1% crude lipid, and the high-lipid diet (HL) had 20.3% crude lipid. 50 mg/kg berberine (C20H18ClNO4, HPLC ≥98%), which was recommended as the suitable dosage in fish feed reported by Zhou et al [26], was purchased from the Spring and Autumn Biotechnology Company (Nanjing, China) and added to Con and HL diets and named ConB and HLB, respectively
Summary
Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid that can be extracted from Coptis chinensis, Berberis thunbergii, and Hydrastis Canadensis, and it exerts various pharmacological functions, such as antitumor, antifungal, cardioprotective, and antiinflammatory effects [1]. Berberine enters the blood after structural transformation by intestinal microbiota. Berberine has a powerful free radical scavenging effect, and it can reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via multiple ways, such as inhibiting ROS-producing oxidase enzymes, modulating the activities of several endogenous antioxidant enzymes, and quenching nitric oxide (NO), superoxide anion (O2-), and the precariously reactively molecules peroxynitrite (OONO-) directly [5,6,7]. Berberine is an effective antioxidant and antiinflammation drug; it has the potential to be a functional feed additive for improving fish antioxidative and immune status
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