Glutathione mitigates hypoxia-induced gill damage in juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) by alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy

作者：Shenghua Zeng, Lin Feng, Pei Wu, Yang Liu, Yao-Bin Ma, Hongmei Ren, Xiao‐Wan Jin, Xiaoqiu Zhou, Wei‐Dan Jiang · 发表于：Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s40104-025-01274-x · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Physiological and biochemical adaptations、Sulfur Compounds in Biology、Paraquat toxicity studies and treatments

BACKGROUND: Environmental hypoxia is a common phenomenon in aquaculture, which causes gill tissue injury in fish. Glutathione (GSH) is a vital antioxidant in animal tissues, and its levels decrease under hypoxic conditions. However, the effects of glutathione on fish under hypoxic stress remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of glutathione on gill tissue damage in fish under hypoxic stress and explore the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Six experimental diets with varying glutathione concentrations. The actual glutathione levels in these diets, measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, were 0.00, 145.95, 291.90, 437.85, 583.80, and 729.75 mg/kg, respectively. Fish were fed these diets for 70 d, after which a 96-h hypoxic stress experiment was conducted. The experiment was set up with normoxic and hypoxic groups, in which the dissolved oxygen in the group was 6 mg/L, and that in the group was 1 mg/L. RESULTS: This research revealed that glutathione could enhance the growth performance and antioxidant capability of juvenile grass carp while mitigating the structural damage to gill tissues induced by hypoxia stress. Mechanistic investigations further indicated that glutathione mitigated hypoxia-induced oxidative injury in gill tissues and improved their antioxidant capacity. In addition, glutathione attenuated gill apoptosis induced by hypoxia stress. Glutathione also inhibited the initiation, nucleation, elongation, and degradation phase...