Metabolomics Analysis of Effects of Commercial Soy-based Protein Products in Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the metabolic effects of four different commercial soy-based protein products on red drum fish (Sciaenops ocellatus) using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based metabolomics along with unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate metabolic profiles in liver, muscle and plasma tissues. Specifically, during a 12-week feeding trial, juvenile red drum maintained in an indoor recirculating aquaculture system were fed four different commercially available soy formulations, containing the same amount of crude protein, and two reference diets as performance controls: a 60 % soybean meal diet that had been used in a previous trial in our lab and a natural diet. Red drum liver, muscle, and plasma tissues were sampled at multiple time points to provide a more accurate snapshot of specific metabolic states during the grow-out. PCA score plots derived from NMR spectroscopy data sets showed significant differences between fish fed the natural diet and the soy-based diets, both in liver and muscle tissues. While red drum tolerated the inclusion of soy with good feed conversion ratios, a comparison to fish fed the natural diet revealed that the soy-fed fish in this study displayed a distinct metabolic signature characterized by increased protein and lipid catabolism, suggesting an energetic imbalance. Furthermore, among the soy-based formulations, one diet showed a more pronounced catabolic signature.

Metabolomics and fish nutrition: a review in the context of sustainable feed development

“…; Casu et al . ). These three amino acids are known to be primary substrates of the TCA cycle, which may suggest their greater use to counterbalance the energy‐deficient state suggested by the authors (Wei et al .…”

“…Indeed, the higher content of this metabolite suggests an increase in lipid catabolism to provide a substrate for gluconeogenesis (Casu et al . ).…”

“…Monitoring fish at several time points after feeding offers the opportunity to compare relative changes in blood and in tissues, but in some cases, changes in plasma profiles are too hieratic to be compared to those in tissues (Casu et al . ). None of the studies until now considered the predictability of blood metabolomics because the use of the metabolomics approach is too recent in fish and because a specific experimental design is required for such purposes.…”

“…Metabolomic studies have already highlighted the contribution of amino acids, fatty acids and even alternative substrates as compared to that of glucose to energy metabolism in fish fed plant‐based diet and alternative feed stuffs (e.g., Casu et al . ; Jarak et al . ).…”

“…Some metabolic network maps with up‐ or downregulated metabolites were also reported (Casu et al . ; Gil‐Solsona et al . ; Prathomya et al .…”