Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker

This study is to explore the alleviating effects of glutamate on intestinal damage in cultured little yellow croaker. A total of 900 juvenile fish at a weight of 30.68 ± 0.12 g were randomly separated into six groups with three replicates each, and were fed a basic diet (protein at 44.42% and lipid...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ruining Liu, Yu Zhang, Xiao Liang, Bao Lou, Junquan Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Fishes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/188
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849714104364695552
author Ruining Liu
Yu Zhang
Xiao Liang
Bao Lou
Junquan Zhu
author_facet Ruining Liu
Yu Zhang
Xiao Liang
Bao Lou
Junquan Zhu
author_sort Ruining Liu
collection DOAJ
description This study is to explore the alleviating effects of glutamate on intestinal damage in cultured little yellow croaker. A total of 900 juvenile fish at a weight of 30.68 ± 0.12 g were randomly separated into six groups with three replicates each, and were fed a basic diet (protein at 44.42% and lipid at 12.48%) with additional glutamate at 0.00%, 0.40%, 0.80%, 1.2%, 1.60%, and 2.00%. Each replica group consisted of 50 fish in a breeding barrel (radius 1.0 m, height 1.5 m), and the experiment lasted for 54 days. The results showed that supplementation with 0.4–1.2% glutamate significantly improved the survival rate, which increased from 75.56% to 91.11%, reduced the feed conversion rate from 1.75 to 1.57, and increased the protein efficiency ratio from 1.55 to 1.85 (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In the intestines, the addition of 0.40–1.2% glutamate increased muscle thickness and villus height (<i>p</i> < 0.05), as well as the activities of pepsin, trypsin, α-amylase, and lipase (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Enzyme activity analysis indicated that the addition of 0.4–1.2% glutamate in the feed significantly enhanced the activities of serum Total Superoxide Dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) antioxidant enzymes (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Transcriptome analysis of the 1.2% and 0% groups revealed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in glutathione synthesis, nutrient absorption and metabolism, and viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptor pathways. qPCR experiments verified that the addition of 1.2% glutamate significantly up-regulated the expression of antioxidant-related genes, including glutathione synthetase and Nrf2. In conclusion, the addition of glutamate can enhance growth performance, increase intestinal digestive capacity, activate intestinal glutathione synthesis to alleviate intestinal damage, and maintain intestinal health.
format Article
id doaj-art-63e706f5edcd464da9ea950a142f01d9
institution DOAJ
issn 2410-3888
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Fishes
spelling doaj-art-63e706f5edcd464da9ea950a142f01d92025-08-20T03:13:47ZengMDPI AGFishes2410-38882025-04-0110418810.3390/fishes10040188Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow CroakerRuining Liu0Yu Zhang1Xiao Liang2Bao Lou3Junquan Zhu4Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biotechnology by the Ministry of Education, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Hydrobiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Desheng Middle Road 298, Hangzhou 310021, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Hydrobiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Desheng Middle Road 298, Hangzhou 310021, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Hydrobiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Desheng Middle Road 298, Hangzhou 310021, ChinaKey Laboratory of Applied Marine Biotechnology by the Ministry of Education, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, ChinaThis study is to explore the alleviating effects of glutamate on intestinal damage in cultured little yellow croaker. A total of 900 juvenile fish at a weight of 30.68 ± 0.12 g were randomly separated into six groups with three replicates each, and were fed a basic diet (protein at 44.42% and lipid at 12.48%) with additional glutamate at 0.00%, 0.40%, 0.80%, 1.2%, 1.60%, and 2.00%. Each replica group consisted of 50 fish in a breeding barrel (radius 1.0 m, height 1.5 m), and the experiment lasted for 54 days. The results showed that supplementation with 0.4–1.2% glutamate significantly improved the survival rate, which increased from 75.56% to 91.11%, reduced the feed conversion rate from 1.75 to 1.57, and increased the protein efficiency ratio from 1.55 to 1.85 (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In the intestines, the addition of 0.40–1.2% glutamate increased muscle thickness and villus height (<i>p</i> < 0.05), as well as the activities of pepsin, trypsin, α-amylase, and lipase (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Enzyme activity analysis indicated that the addition of 0.4–1.2% glutamate in the feed significantly enhanced the activities of serum Total Superoxide Dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) antioxidant enzymes (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Transcriptome analysis of the 1.2% and 0% groups revealed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in glutathione synthesis, nutrient absorption and metabolism, and viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptor pathways. qPCR experiments verified that the addition of 1.2% glutamate significantly up-regulated the expression of antioxidant-related genes, including glutathione synthetase and Nrf2. In conclusion, the addition of glutamate can enhance growth performance, increase intestinal digestive capacity, activate intestinal glutathione synthesis to alleviate intestinal damage, and maintain intestinal health.https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/188glutamic acidgrowthantioxidant enzyme activityintestine<i>Larimichthys polyactis</i>
spellingShingle Ruining Liu
Yu Zhang
Xiao Liang
Bao Lou
Junquan Zhu
Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
Fishes
glutamic acid
growth
antioxidant enzyme activity
intestine
<i>Larimichthys polyactis</i>
title Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
title_full Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
title_fullStr Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
title_short Effects of Glutamate on Growth Performance, Gut Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity in Juvenile Little Yellow Croaker
title_sort effects of glutamate on growth performance gut digestion and antioxidant capacity in juvenile little yellow croaker
topic glutamic acid
growth
antioxidant enzyme activity
intestine
<i>Larimichthys polyactis</i>
url https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/188
work_keys_str_mv AT ruiningliu effectsofglutamateongrowthperformancegutdigestionandantioxidantcapacityinjuvenilelittleyellowcroaker
AT yuzhang effectsofglutamateongrowthperformancegutdigestionandantioxidantcapacityinjuvenilelittleyellowcroaker
AT xiaoliang effectsofglutamateongrowthperformancegutdigestionandantioxidantcapacityinjuvenilelittleyellowcroaker
AT baolou effectsofglutamateongrowthperformancegutdigestionandantioxidantcapacityinjuvenilelittleyellowcroaker
AT junquanzhu effectsofglutamateongrowthperformancegutdigestionandantioxidantcapacityinjuvenilelittleyellowcroaker