Dietary vitamin E modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and antioxidant capacity during early gonadal development in juvenile Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis)

作者：Tingting Shu, Zhaoxi Yu, Jingyi Jia, Yifan Ding, Chao Cheng, Cheng Xu, Zhan Yin, Wei Jiang, Yacheng Hu, Jing Yang, Pei Chen · 发表于：Aquaculture Reports · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.aqrep.2025.103181 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth、Reproductive biology and impacts on aquatic species、Fish Ecology and Management Studies

A two-month feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary vitamin E on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and antioxidant capacity during early gonadal development in juvenile Chinese sturgeon. Three experimental diets were formulated: a basal commercial diet as the control (Con), and two diets supplemented with 0.2 % (VE2) and 0.4 % (VE4) vitamin E, respectively. The results showed that a 0.2 % dietary vitamin E level significantly enhanced final body weight (FBW), weight gain rate (WGR), and specific growth rate (SGR). Although H&E staining showed no morphological differences among the three groups, vitamin E supplementation significantly increased gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) concentrations in males, as well as testosterone and 11-keto testosterone (11-KT) levels in females. Additionally, the transcriptional levels of key genes in the HPG axis, including gnrh2 , kiss1 , kissr1 , kissr2 , ar , and fshr were markedly up-regulated in both sexes. Transcriptome analysis identified 892 and 1210 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in males from the VE2 and VE4 groups, respectively, compared to the control. In females, 1431 and 655 DEGs were identified in the VE2 and VE4 groups, respectively. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that vitamin E could modulate multiple biological pathways in Chinese sturgeon, including Cortisol synthesis and secretion, Cell adhesion molecules, PPAR signaling pathway, Cholesterol metabolism, and ECM-receptor inter...