The effects of dietary astaxanthin on intestinal health of juvenile tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes in terms of antioxidative status, inflammatory response and microbiota

Abstract

A 74‐day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary astaxanthin (ASTX) on antioxidative status, inflammatory response and microbiota in the intestine of tiger puffer. Four diets differed only in ASTX content, that is, 0 (Control), 50 (ASTX50), 100 (ASTX100) and 500 (ASTX500) mg/kg. Compared with Control, ASTX50 and ASTX100 significantly reduced the malondialdehyde content and spared the activities of antioxidative enzymes in hindgut; however, ASTX500 had higher activity and gene expression of antioxidative enzymes. Nuclear factor‐erythroid 2 p45‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein 1 (Keap1) signalling were probably involved in the transcriptional regulation of antioxidative enzymes by dietary ASTX. Compared with Control and ASTX500, ASTX50 and ASTX100 decreased the leucocyte infiltration in the lamina propria of hindgut and down‐regulated the gene expression of tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8). ASTX markedly affected the overall structure of intestinal microbiota. The relative abundance of Arcobacter, which has harmful properties, was the lowest in ASTX100 but the highest in ASTX500. In conclusion, dietary ASTX at 50 or 100 mg/kg improved the antioxidative status, alleviated the inflammation and favourably modulated the microbiota in tiger puffer intestine, but excess ASTX exerted contrary effects.

Effects of different dietary lipid levels on intestinal mucosal barrier and microbial community of juvenile tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes

“…It is estimated that trillions of microbes inhabit the gut and perform a variety of functions in animals (Dawood, 2020). In the present study, Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in the control group, which is consistent with the research results in tiger puffer (Li et al, 2015;Ou et al, 2019;Yu et al, 2019). At the genus level, Vibrio was the dominant genus of juvenile puffer, which was similar to that of Yu et al (2019).…”

The variation of intestinal autochthonous bacteria in cultured tiger pufferfish Takifugu rubripes

“…The predominant genera in the intestinal bacterial community were Arcobacter , Photobacterium , Vagococcus , Weissella and Vibrio , which was different from the previous studies of pufferfish ( Talwar et al., 2018 ; Ou et al., 2019 ). Arcobacter , Photobacterium and Vibrio contains some common pathogenic species for aquatic species.…”

“…The result was consistent with previous studies on relative abundance of Proteobacteria in fish intestinal tract with 45.5 ± 18.3% in rainbow trout (Ingerslev et al, 2014) and 59-87% in common carp (Li et al, 2013). The predominant genera in the intestinal bacterial community were Arcobacter, Photobacterium, Vagococcus, Weissella and Vibrio, which was different from the previous studies of pufferfish (Talwar et al, 2018;Ou et al, 2019). Arcobacter, Photobacterium and Vibrio contains some common pathogenic species for aquatic species.…”

“…In the present study, Arcobacter was found to be the most core bacterial taxon in the intestinal bacterial community of pufferfish, with the most dominant abundance at the genus level and dominant positions in co-occurrence relationships with other bacterial taxa. Arcobacter has been reported to be dominant in the intestinal bacterial community of pufferfish (not specific for autochthonous bacteria) under some conditions, such as excess dietary astaxanthin (ASTX, 500 mg/kg) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 23.41 g/kg) ( Ou et al., 2019 ; Yu et al., 2019 ). In the present study, Arcobacter was first found to be consistently highly enriched during the aquaculture period.…”

Antioxidant and anti‑inflammatory mechanisms of action of astaxanthin in cardiovascular diseases (Review)

“…In fact, a growing body of evidence indicates that gut microbiota plays a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular diseases, and alterations in its composition (dysbiosis) have been associated with heart failure, hypertension, atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome (93)(94)(95). Several recent in vivo studies revealed that astaxanthin supplementation improved gut microbiota composition, which may contribute to its local and systemic anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects (92,(96)(97)(98)(99). The beneficial effect of astaxanthin on gut microbiota has been shown to be correlated with the mitigation of cardiovascular disease-related pathologies and risk factors, such as obesity (100), insulin resistance (99) and alcoholic fatty liver disease (92).…”