Scientists discovered that blunt snout bream may have implications for human diseases that affect nutrient metabolism or muscles, such as long chain fatty acid oxidation disorder (LCFAOD), as published in Scientific Reports.
They conducted a study to investigate the effects of dietary methionine (Met) levels on the nutrient metabolism of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama ambylcephala), the main freshwater aquaculture species in China, as well as the metabolic responses elicited in the liver and muscle.
Previous studies conducted by the authors of this study confirmed that Met levels can boost the immunity and antioxidant capacity of blunt snout beam and also regulate glucose and lipid metabolism.
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“In fish, the liver and muscle are both main sites of protein synthesis, lipid synthesis and excess carbohydrate storage,” Ji and colleagues wrote. They fed the fish 3 Met diets at different levels: 0.40%, 0.84%, and 1.28% dry matter.
Read more about LCFAOD overview
“The results showed that the 0.84% Met diet significantly improved the growth compared with 0.40% diets,” the scientists wrote. “Compared with 0.84% and 1.28% Met, 0.40% Met significantly increased the hepatic lipid content, while decreasing the muscular lipid and glycogen contents.”
Among the many tests the scientists conducted on the fish, 1 test was determining the mRNA levels of the fish fed on different Met diets. They discovered that the level of Met diets played a role in lipid synthesis in the liver and muscle via changing mRNA levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, fatty acid synthetase, and acetyl-CoA carboxylase.
Fishes fed with the highest Met content demonstrated enhanced mRNA levels of hepatic gluconeogenesis-related genes. The immediate implication of this study is that feeding blunt snout bream with optimal dietary Met improves their growth and development.
The human implication of this study may be that dietary Met also plays an important role in human liver and muscle function.
Reference
Ji K, Liang H, Ren M, Ge X, Pan L, Yu H. Nutrient metabolism in the liver and muscle of juvenile blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) in response to dietary methionine levels. Sci Rep. Published online December 13, 2021. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-03084-3
