Taurine Intake Alleviates Oxidative Damage During Transportation in Culter alburnus

Area of Science:

• Aquaculture
• Fish Physiology
• Animal Nutrition

Background:

• Live fish transport causes significant physiological stress, oxidative damage, and mortality.
• This stress leads to substantial economic losses in the aquaculture industry.
• Effective strategies are needed to mitigate transport-induced stress in commercially important fish species.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of dietary taurine in alleviating physiological stress responses during the transportation of *Culter alburnus*.
• To determine the optimal dietary concentration of taurine for enhancing stress resilience.
• To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying taurine's protective effects.

Main Methods:

• Juvenile *Culter alburnus* were fed diets supplemented with varying concentrations of taurine (0–2.0 g/kg) for 8 weeks.
• Fish underwent 12 hours of simulated transport to assess physiological and biochemical parameters.
• Antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, GSH-Px, MDA), immune enzyme activities (ACP, AKP, T-NOS), and gene expression (TLR5, Il12b) were analyzed.
• Transcriptome analysis was employed to elucidate the underlying molecular pathways.

Main Results:

• Taurine supplementation dose-dependently improved growth performance and reduced gill tissue damage during transport.
• A dietary concentration of 2.0 g/kg taurine significantly enhanced antioxidant capacity and immune enzyme activities.
• Transcriptome analysis revealed that 2.0 g/kg taurine upregulated immune-related genes and activated the Toll-like receptor and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathways.

Conclusions:

• Dietary taurine, particularly at 2.0 g/kg, effectively mitigates transport-induced physiological stress in *Culter alburnus*.
• Taurine enhances antioxidative capacity and immune responses, improving fish resilience to transport stress.
• This study highlights the potential of taurine as a feed additive to improve live fish transport outcomes in aquaculture.