A lipidomic analysis was conducted to provide the first detailed overview of lipid molecule profiles in response to dietary lipid and taurine and associations of liver lipid-lowering effects of dietary taurine with lipid molecular species and the positional distributions of fatty acids in the liver of juvenile orange-spotted groupers (Epinephelus coioides). The results indicated that the liver was more sensitive to varied dietary lipid and taurine contents than the muscle with regard to lipid molecules. A total of 131 differential lipid molecules (DLMs) were observed in the liver of groupers when dietary taurine was increased from 0 to 1% at 15% lipid, among which all the up and down-regulated DLMs are phospholipids (PLs) and triglycerides (TGs), respectively. The liver content of TGs containing 18:2n-6 attached at the sn-2 and sn-3 positions on the glycerol backbone increased with increasing dietary lipid from 10 to 15% but decreased with increasing dietary taurine from 0 to 1%. Therefore, dietary taurine can not only reduce lipid accumulation through decreasing the contents of TGs containing 18:2n-6 at the sn-2 and sn-3 positions but also enhance the anti-inflammatory capacity and health status of groupers. This study will also provide a new insight into the function of taurine in farmed fish.
Keywords: Epinephelus coioides; fatty acid composition; lipidomics; positional distribution; taurine.
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