Dietary phospholipid alleviates the adverse effects of high-lipid diet in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the impacts of dietary phospholipid (PL) on growth, antioxidant status and lipid metabolism of Eriocheir sinensis juveniles (0.53 +/- 0.01 g) fed four diets including high lipid (13%, HL) and low lipid (8%, LL) and each lipid level containing either high PL (5%, HP) or low PL (1%, LP). Final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate and molting frequency in the HL-LL group were lower than those in the HL-HP group. Compared with the HL-LP group, the enzymatic antioxidant activities increased and hepatopancreatic malondialdehyde content decreased in the HL-HP group. In addition, the high dietary PL significantly suppressed the accumulation of lipid in the hepatopancreas and the whole-body induced by high lipid diets. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that the dietary PL reduced excessive lipid deposition in the hepatopancreas through promoting lipid oxidation and exportation as well as inhibiting lipid absorption and synthesis at the transcriptional level. This study indicates that high dietary PL could promote lipid utilization in E. sinensis fed a high-lipid diet by optimizing lipid metabolism to improve growth performance.