Effects of anthocyanidins on myogenic differentiation and antioxidant defense in primary myogenic cells isolated from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Abstract

There is increasing interest in using plant-derived extracts to promote growth and health in finfish species in recent years. Elucidating the effects of plant secondary metabolites on skeletal muscle growth signaling will contribute to an improved understanding of the effects of feeding carnivorous fish diets supplemented with plant extracts on fish somatic growth. Dietary intake of anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid widely distributed in plants, has long been associated with beneficial effects in both human and animal health; however, their effects in finfish are largely unknown. We conducted an experiment to test the effect of three doses (treatments A, B and C; 1x, 2.5x and 10x, respectively) of a mixture of three types of anthocyanidins (peonidin, cyanidin and pelargonidin chloride) on the expression of several genes in primary myogenic cells isolated from the skeletal muscle of rain-bow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) after 24 h of treatment. The genes of interest analyzed are involved inmyogenic programing (pax7, myoD and myogenin), Notch signaling (her6 and hey2) and antioxidant enzymes (sod1, cat and gpx1). Significantly greater expression of pax7 in cells under treatment B compared with the untreated cells was detected. Although no differences in expression of myogenic regulatory factors, myoD and myogenin between test groups or the control were detected, a trend toward significantly lower expression in all groups tested compared with the control group was observed. Moreover, significantly higher expression levels of her6 and hey2 in cells under treatments A and B compared with untreated cells were detected. Although no significant differences in the expression of cat and sod1, significantly greater expression in gpx1 in all treated groups compared with the control group was detected. Collectively, we demonstrated that anthocyanidins enhance the expression of gpx1 in primary myogenic cells, thereby contributing to skeletal muscle tissue defense against oxidative stress in finfish species. Further, anthocyanidins appear to delay myogenic differentiation in primary myogenic cells by up-regulating the expression of pax7 while decreasing myogenic regulatory factors in a Notch signaling-dependent interaction. Whether this effect results a reduced growth performance and/or an increase in feed conversion ratio in fish fed diets supplemented with plant extracts rich in anthocyanins or anthocyanidins needs further study, and the need to better define the potential effects of different polyphenol classes in myogenic differentiation on primary myogenic cells from carnivorous fish is warranted.

Statement of relevance: The study contributes to increase our understanding regarding the effect of plant-derived secondary metabolites such as anthocyanidins on myogenic program and antioxidant enzyme defense in differentiating myogenic cells from carnivorous fish. We have demonstrated that anthocyanidins may delay the progress of the myogenic differentiation process and promote antioxidant defense expression in myogenic cells.