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. 2024 Jun 26;13(7):474.
doi: 10.3390/biology13070474.

Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Avoids Deterioration of Transport Water Quality, Regulates Plasma Biochemical Indices, Energy Metabolism, and Antioxidant Capacity of Tawny Puffer (Takifugui flavidus) under Transport Stress

Xiaowen Yu  1 , Wenjie Hou  1 , Lixia Xiao  2
Affiliations

Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Avoids Deterioration of Transport Water Quality, Regulates Plasma Biochemical Indices, Energy Metabolism, and Antioxidant Capacity of Tawny Puffer (Takifugui flavidus) under Transport Stress

Xiaowen Yu et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

Live fish transportation is crucial for managing aquaculture but can pose health risks to fish due to stressors encountered during transportation. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in the central nervous system and is considered to exhibit anti-stress effects. This study aims to investigate the effects of GABA on the transport water quality, plasma biochemical indices, energy metabolism, and antioxidant capacity of tawny puffer (Takifugu flavidus) under transport stress. Tawny puffer were pretreated by immersing in aquariums containing GABA (final concentrations at 0, 5, 50, and 150 mg/L) seawater for 3 days; then, simulated transport was conducted using oxygen-filled polyethylene bags containing the same concentration of GABA seawater as the pretreatment period. Water samples, plasma, and liver were collected after 0, 6, and 12 h of transport. The results revealed that with the prolongation of transportation time, the control group's water quality deteriorated, stress-related plasma biochemical indices increased, glycolytic substrate contents decreased, glycolytic enzyme activities and product contents increased, and aerobic metabolic enzyme activities exhibited initial increases followed by declines, ATPase activities decreased, antioxidant enzyme activities decreased, and the lipid peroxidation marker contents increased. It is noteworthy that GABA treatment could avoid water quality deterioration during transportation, inhibit an elevation in stress-related biochemical indicators, regulate energy metabolism, and reduce oxidative damage in tawny puffer, especially at 50 and 150 mg/L concentrations. In summary, GABA treatment can effectively alleviate the transport stress of tawny puffer.

Keywords: GABA; Takifugu flavidus; antioxidant capacity; energy metabolism; transport stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the experimental design of this study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The effect of GABA treatment on the plasma biochemical indices of tawny puffer under transport stress. (A) Epinephrine (EPI) content; (B) cortisol (COR) content; (C) glucose (GLU) content. The values are expressed as the means ± SD (n = 6). Diverse letters above the column represent the significant differences (p < 0.05) in different groups at the same time point in Duncan’s test. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between values obtained before and after stress are marked by “*” in t-tests.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effect of GABA treatment on the energy metabolism indicators in the liver of tawny puffer under transport stress. (A) Liver glycogen (LG) content; (B) pyruvate kinase (PK) activity; (C) phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity; (D) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity; (E) lactic acid (LA) content; (F) citrate synthase (CS) activity. The values are expressed as the means ± SD (n = 6). Diverse letters above the column represent the significant differences (p < 0.05) in different groups at the same time point in Duncan’s test. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between values obtained before and after stress are marked by “*” in t-tests.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The effect of GABA treatment on the ATPase activities in the liver of tawny puffer under transport stress. (A) Na+-K+-ATPase activities; (B) Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities. The values are expressed as the means ± SD (n = 6). Diverse letters above the column represent the significant differences (p < 0.05) in different groups at the same time point in Duncan’s test. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between values obtained before and after stress are marked by “*” in t-tests.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The effect of GABA treatment on the antioxidant indexes in the liver of tawny puffer under transport stress. (A) Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity; (B) peroxidase (POD) activity; (C) total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC); (D) malondialdehyde (MDA) content. The values are expressed as the means ± SD (n = 6). Diverse letters above the column represent the significant differences (p < 0.05) in different groups at the same time point in Duncan’s test. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between values obtained before and after stress are marked by “*” in t-tests.
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