Effects of dietary puerarin on growth, digestive enzyme, antioxidant capacity, immune and liver health of Acanthopagrus latus

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of puerarin on growth, digestive enzymes, antioxidant capacity, immunity and liver health of Acanthopagrus latus. Four diets were formulated: a control diet (C) and C supplemented with 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg puerarin (CP2, CP4, and CP6, respectively) and a eight-week feeding trial was conducted of fish. The results showed that the addition of 400 mg/kg puerarin significantly increased weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), and decreased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to C group. Dietary supplementation with 600 mg/kg puerarin significantly increased lipase (LPS) activity compared to the C group. The addition of 200 mg/kg puerarin significantly reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and 400 mg/kg puerarin significantly reduced total cholesterol (T-CHO), triglycerides (TG) and HDL-C compared to the C group. Dietary supplementation with 400 mg/kg puerarin significantly increased serum and liver glutathione (GSH) activity and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content compared to the C group. Addition of 400 mg/kg puerarin significantly increased liver catalase (CAT) activity compared to the C group. Supplementation of 600 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of puerarin significantly increased serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and lysozyme (LZM) activities, respectively. Compared to the C group, the addition of 200 mg/kg of puerarin significantly increased the activities of acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) in the liver. CP4-feeding significantly upregulated the expression of nrf2, ho-1, and gclc while downregulating the expression of keap1 compared to the C group. The addition of puerarin significantly reduced the expression of tnf-α and il-6 compared to the C group. Supplementation of 200 mg/kg puerarin significantly reduced the expression of bax compared to the C group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with puerarin had positive effects on the growth, digestive enzymes, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and liver health of fish, particularly at 503.5 mg/kg.