Effects of dietary quercetin on growth, antioxidant capacity, immune response and immune-related gene expression in snakehead fish, Channa argus
Yuxin Kong, Jiaxin Tian, Xiaotian Niu, Min Li, Yidi Kong, Ruoming Li, Xiumei Chen, Guiqin Wang
Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of quercetin-supplemented in diet on growth, antioxidant capacity and immune response and immune-related gene expression of Channa argus (C. argus) (initial weight, 24.50 ± 0.24 g). A basal diet was supplemented with quercetin at 0, 150, 300 or 450 mg kg−1 and feed to C. argus 56 days. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly increased (P < .05), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly decreased (P < .05) with the increase of dietary quercetin levels from 0 to 450 mg kg−1. Supplemented quercetin (150, 300 or 450 mg kg−1) significantly enhanced (P < .05) serum or tissues superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), lysozyme (LZM) activity and complement 3 (C3), complement 4 (C4), immunoglobulin M (IgM) concentration. Meanwhile, quercetin administration significantly up-regulated (P < .05) the expression of immune-related cytokines (interleukin-1β[IL-1β], tumor necrosis factor-α[TNF-α], interleukin-8[IL-8], interleukin-10[IL-10]) in liver, spleen, kidney and intestine of C. argus. These results indicated that dietary supplement quercetin could enhance growth, antioxidant capacity, immune response and regulated immune-related genes expression of C. argus, with greatest effects in C. argus given 300 mg kg−1 quercetin for 56 days.