Abstract
Skeletal muscle is the mainly edible part of fish. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is a crucial nutrient for fish. This study investigated the effect of EPA on the muscle development of grass carp along with the potential molecular mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. Muscle cells treated with 50 μM EPA in vitro showed the elevated proliferation, and the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway-related genes was upregulated (P < 0.05). In vivo experiments, 270 grass carp (27.92 g) were fed with one of the three experimental diets for 56 days: control diet (CN), 0.3% EPA-supplement diet (EPA), and the diet supplemented with 0.3% EPA and 30 mg/kg rapamycin (EPA + Rap). Fish weight gain rate (WGR) was improved in EPA group (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the viscerosomatic index (VSI) and body height (BH) among all groups (P > 0.05), whereas the carcass ratio (CR) and body length in the EPA group were obviously higher than those of other groups (P < 0.05), indicating that the increase of WGR was due to muscle growth. In addition, both muscle fiber density and muscle crude protein also increased in EPA group (P < 0.05). The principal component analysis showed that total weight of muscle amino acid in EPA group ranked first. Dietary EPA also increased protein levels of the total mTOR, S6k1, Myhc, Myog, and Myod in muscle (P < 0.05). In conclusion, EPA promoted the muscle development and nutritive value via activating the mTOR signaling pathway.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Long Wang and Shuncai Wang for helping in the feeding experiment.
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This study was supported by the National Key R & D Program of China (2019YFD0900200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32072989) and the National Foreign Expert Project (G2022172038L) in finance.
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Hong Ji and Jian Sun proposed the study and designed the project. Handong Li wrote and revised the paper. Shanghong Ji and Xiangtong Yuan analyzed the data by statistical methods, prepared figures and legends. Yunhe Li and Gen Kaneko revised the literature and contributed to the discussion. All authors revised and edited the manuscript.
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Li, H., Ji, S., Yuan, X. et al. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) improves grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) muscle development and nutritive value by activating the mTOR signaling pathway. Fish Physiol Biochem 50, 687–703 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-024-01299-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-024-01299-5