Assessing the risks of dietary quercetin supplementation in red-spotted grouper (Epinephelus akaara): effects on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, lipid level, and intestinal microbiome

IF 3 2区生物学 Q1 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Frontiers in Marine Science Pub Date : 2025-09-25 DOI:10.3389/fmars.2025.1678527

Yuan Hu, An Li, Xinbin Shao, Jie Zhu, Jingbo Cai, Jianzhong Ma, Rongmao Lu

{"title":"Assessing the risks of dietary quercetin supplementation in red-spotted grouper (Epinephelus akaara): effects on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, lipid level, and intestinal microbiome","authors":"Yuan Hu, An Li, Xinbin Shao, Jie Zhu, Jingbo Cai, Jianzhong Ma, Rongmao Lu","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1678527","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Quercetin, a naturally occurring plant flavonoid, is used in aquaculture feeds to affect fish health. This study evaluated the effects of dietary quercetin supplementation on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, lipid levels, and gut microbiota in juvenile Epinephelus akaara. Fish were reared in a controlled recirculating aquaculture system and received dietary quercetin for 8 weeks at five levels: 0, 181, 362, 544, and 725 mg/kg. Growth metrics, physiological and biochemical parameters, antioxidant enzyme activities, and intestinal microbial communities were assessed using standard analytical protocols. Quercetin supplementation at 362–544 mg/kg significantly increased the weight gain rate and the specific growth rate. It elevated the activities of key antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), while reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Supplementation of quercetin at 181–725 mg/kg lowered the levels of cholesterol (TC) in liver and muscle as well as triglyceride in liver. It also increased gut microbiota diversity and enriched beneficial taxa, such as Cetobacterium, Romboutsia, and Turicibacter, which were positively correlated with physiological resilience. Cetobacterium was correlated significantly negative with cholesterol (r &lt; −0.6, P &lt; 0.01). These findings suggest that quercetin is a promising functional feed additive for improving health and aquaculture performance in red-spotted grouper.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"99 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Marine Science","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1678527","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Quercetin, a naturally occurring plant flavonoid, is used in aquaculture feeds to affect fish health. This study evaluated the effects of dietary quercetin supplementation on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, lipid levels, and gut microbiota in juvenile Epinephelus akaara. Fish were reared in a controlled recirculating aquaculture system and received dietary quercetin for 8 weeks at five levels: 0, 181, 362, 544, and 725 mg/kg. Growth metrics, physiological and biochemical parameters, antioxidant enzyme activities, and intestinal microbial communities were assessed using standard analytical protocols. Quercetin supplementation at 362–544 mg/kg significantly increased the weight gain rate and the specific growth rate. It elevated the activities of key antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), while reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Supplementation of quercetin at 181–725 mg/kg lowered the levels of cholesterol (TC) in liver and muscle as well as triglyceride in liver. It also increased gut microbiota diversity and enriched beneficial taxa, such as Cetobacterium, Romboutsia, and Turicibacter, which were positively correlated with physiological resilience. Cetobacterium was correlated significantly negative with cholesterol (r < −0.6, P < 0.01). These findings suggest that quercetin is a promising functional feed additive for improving health and aquaculture performance in red-spotted grouper.

查看原文本刊更多论文

评估红斑石斑鱼（Epinephelus akaara）饲料中添加槲皮素的风险：对生长性能、抗氧化能力、脂质水平和肠道微生物群的影响

槲皮素是一种天然存在的植物类黄酮，用于水产养殖饲料中，影响鱼类健康。本研究评价了饲料中添加槲皮素对akaara石斑鱼幼鱼生长性能、抗氧化能力、脂质水平和肠道微生物群的影响。鱼在受控循环水养殖系统中饲养，饲喂5个水平的槲皮素，分别为0、181、362、544和725 mg/kg，为期8周。采用标准分析方案评估生长指标、生理生化参数、抗氧化酶活性和肠道微生物群落。添加362 ~ 544 mg/kg槲皮素显著提高了增重率和特定生长率。它提高了关键抗氧化酶的活性，包括超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx），同时降低了丙二醛（MDA）水平。添加181 ~ 725 mg/kg槲皮素可降低肝脏和肌肉中的胆固醇（TC）水平以及肝脏中的甘油三酯水平。增加了肠道菌群多样性，丰富了有益菌群，如Cetobacterium、Romboutsia和Turicibacter，这与生理恢复力呈正相关。鲸杆菌与胆固醇呈显著负相关（r < - 0.6, P < 0.01）。槲皮素是一种很有前景的功能性饲料添加剂，可改善红斑石斑鱼的健康状况和养殖性能。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Frontiers in Marine Science Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Aquatic Science

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

16.20%

发文量

2443

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Marine Science publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research that advances our understanding of all aspects of the environment, biology, ecosystem functioning and human interactions with the oceans. Field Chief Editor Carlos M. Duarte at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, policy makers and the public worldwide. With the human population predicted to reach 9 billion people by 2050, it is clear that traditional land resources will not suffice to meet the demand for food or energy, required to support high-quality livelihoods. As a result, the oceans are emerging as a source of untapped assets, with new innovative industries, such as aquaculture, marine biotechnology, marine energy and deep-sea mining growing rapidly under a new era characterized by rapid growth of a blue, ocean-based economy. The sustainability of the blue economy is closely dependent on our knowledge about how to mitigate the impacts of the multiple pressures on the ocean ecosystem associated with the increased scale and diversification of industry operations in the ocean and global human pressures on the environment. Therefore, Frontiers in Marine Science particularly welcomes the communication of research outcomes addressing ocean-based solutions for the emerging challenges, including improved forecasting and observational capacities, understanding biodiversity and ecosystem problems, locally and globally, effective management strategies to maintain ocean health, and an improved capacity to sustainably derive resources from the oceans.