Relationship between dietary PA levels and weight gain (%) of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Relationship between dietary PA levels and weight gain (%) of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of dietary PA levels on hepatic ant-oxidative status of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05). MDA, Malondialdehyde; CAT, catalase; GSH, glutathione; GPX, glutathione peroxidase; SOD, superoxide dismutase.</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on hepatic ant-oxidative status of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of Dietary Pantothenic Acid on Growth, Intestinal Function, Anti-Oxidative Status and Fatty Acids Synthesis of Juvenile Blunt Snout Bream <i>Megalobrama amblycephala</i>

<div><p>Four groups of juvenile <i>Megalobrama amblycephala</i> were fed three times daily with six semi-purified diets containing 3.39 (PA unsupplied diet), 10.54, 19.28, 31.04, 48.38 and 59.72 mg kg^-1 calcium D-pantothenate. The results showed that survival rate, final weight, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and nitrogen retention efficiency all increased significantly (<i>P</i><0.01) as dietary PA levels increased from 3.39 to 19.28 mg kg^-1, whereas the opposite was true for feed conversion ratio. Whole-body crude protein increased as dietary PA levels increased, while the opposite pattern was found for the crude lipid content. Intestinal α-amylase, lipase, protease, Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase, alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities were all elevated in fish fed PA-supplemented diets. Hepatic catalase activities improved with increases in dietary PA, while the opposite was true for malondialdehyde contents. The liver PA concentration and coenzyme A content rose significantly (<i>P</i><0.01), up to 31.04 mg kg^-1, with increasing dietary PA levels and then plateaued. The percentage of hepatic saturated fatty acids increased significantly (<i>P</i><0.01) as dietary PA levels increased, while the percentages of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) decreased as dietary PA increased. Fish fed diets containing 19.28 and 31.04 mg kg^-1 PA exhibited higher (<i>P</i><0.01) docosahexaenoic acid and PUFA percentages in muscle than those fed with other diets. The expression of the gene encoding pantothenate kinase was significantly up-regulated (<i>P</i><0.01) in fish fed PA-supplemented diets. Hepatic Acetyl-CoA carboxylase α, fatty acid synthetase, stearoyl regulatory element-binding protein 1 and X receptor α genes all increased significantly (<i>P</i><0.01) as dietary PA levels increased from 3.39 to 31.04 mg kg^-1. Based on broken-line regression analyses of weight gain, liver CoA concentrations and PA contents against dietary PA levels, the optimal dietary PA requirements of juvenile blunt snout bream were estimated to be 24.08 mg kg^-1.</p></div

Effects of dietary PA levels on intestinal absorptive enzyme and digestive enzyme activities of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05). γ-GT, gamma-glutamyl transferase; AKP, alkline phosphatase.</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on intestinal absorptive enzyme and digestive enzyme activities of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of dietary PA levels on growth performance and feed utilization of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05). SGR, specific growth rate; FCR, feed conversion ratio; PER, protein efficiency ratio; NRE, nitrogen retention efficiency.</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on growth performance and feed utilization of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of dietary PA levels on body parameters of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05). DP, dressout percentage; CF, condition factor; HSI, hepatosomatic index.</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on body parameters of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Relationship between dietary PA levels and hepatic CoA concentration (μg g^-1 tissue) of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Relationship between dietary PA levels and hepatic CoA concentration (μg g^-1 tissue) of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of dietary PA levels on muscle fatty acids composition of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on muscle fatty acids composition of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Effects of dietary PA levels on whole-body composition (% wet weight) and liver lipid content (% wet liver weight) of juvenile blunt snout bream.

<p>Values are presented as mean ± SD of four replications (n = 4). Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p><p>Effects of dietary PA levels on whole-body composition (% wet weight) and liver lipid content (% wet liver weight) of juvenile blunt snout bream.</p

Relative mRNA expression of <i>coaA</i> gene in liver of juvenile blunt snout bream affected by dietary PA levels.

<p>Relative mRNA expression of <i>coaA</i> gene in liver of juvenile blunt snout bream affected by dietary PA levels.</p