Influence of Dietary Berberine on Liver Immune Response and Intestinal Health of Black Sea Bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii) Fed with Normal and High-Lipid Diets

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.

Synergistic Effect of Dietary Inactivated Lactobacillus plantarum and Berberine Supplementation on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, and Immune Function of Juvenile Black Sea Bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii)

“…This study sets out to compare the effects of dietary inactivated L. plantarum alone (LP) with that of a combination between L. plantarum and berberine (BB) on black sea bream. No berberine-only treatment was included in this trial because previous studies in our laboratory showed how berberine supplementation in black sea bream diets improved the health condition, evinced in antioxidant function, inflammatory cytokines, and other health-related parameters [17,44,45]. The FBW, WG, and SGR results from the study show that the combination (LPBB) significantly improved growth performance, but the synergistic effect of the combination could not significantly improve the growth than the probiotic alone, despite the slightly higher feed intake and feed utilization it produced.…”

Effects of Berberine on Lipid Metabolism, Antioxidant Status, and Immune Response in Liver of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) under a High-Fat Diet Feeding

“…These findings suggest that the protective effect of berberine on the liver may be attributed to its anti-inflammatory properties. Supporting this notion, Wang et al, (2022) found that berberine mitigated the highly expressed il-1β, tnf-α, and nf-κB in A. schlegelii treated with an HFD [33]. Moreover, berberine diminished inflammation and lowered the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway [74].…”

“…The formulation of the high-fat diet was based on methodologies validated in previous studies [30,31]. The inclusion rate of berberine in the diets was selected according to previous studies [32,33]. Each group consisted of 60 fish, tested across three replicates.…”