Effects of dietary Gelsemium elegans alkaloids on intestinal morphology, antioxidant status, immune responses and microbiota of Megalobrama amblycephala.

Numerous plant extracts used as feed additives in aquaculture have been shown to stimulate appetite, promote growth and enhance immunostimulatory and disease resistance in cultured fish. However, there are few studies on the famous Chinese herbal medicine Gelsemium elegans, which attracts our attention. In this study, we used the Megalobrama amblycephala to investigate the effects of G. elegans alkaloids on fish intestinal health after diet supplementation with 0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg G. elegans alkaloids for 12 weeks. We found that dietary G. elegans alkaloids at 40 mg/kg improved intestinal morphology by increasing villus length, muscle thickness and villus number in the foregut and midgut and muscle thickness in the hindgut (P < 0.05). These alkaloids also significantly improved intestinal antioxidant capabilities by increasing superoxide dismutase, catalase, total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde levels and up-regulated intestinal Cu/Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD (P < 0.05) at 20 and 40 mg/kg. Dietary G. elegans alkaloids improved intestinal immunity via up-regulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α and IFN-α and down-regulating expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β (P < 0.05) at 20 and 40 mg/kg. The expression of Toll-like receptors TRL1, 3, 4 and 7 were also up-regulated in intestine of M. amblycephala (P < 0.05). In intestinal microbiota, the abundance of Proteobacteria was increased while the Firmicutes abundance was decreased at phylum level after feeding the alkaloids (P < 0.05). The alkaloids also increased the abundance of the probiotic Rhodobacter and decreased the abundance of the pathogenic Staphylococcus at genus level (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary G. elegans alkaloid supplementation promoted intestine health by improving intestine morphology, immunity, antioxidant abilities and intestinal microbiota in M. amblycephala.