Dietary arachidonic acid decreases the expression of transcripts related to adipocyte development and chronic inflammation in the adipose tissue of juvenile grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella

Abstract Overdevelopment of adipose tissue in cultured fish is one of the biggest issues plaguing current aquaculture industry, leading to unhealthy status of fishes and production losses. Diet supplemented with 0.30% arachidonic acid (ARA) has been found to reduce adipogenesis and inflammation in grass carp, but the potential mechanism is not comprehensively understood. To fully reveal the effects of dietary ARA on the mRNA profiles of adipose tissue, transcriptome techniques were applied in this study. A 10-weeks feeding experiment was performed using two isonitrogenous and isoenergetic purified diets, namely ARA-free (control) and 0.30% ARA (ARA group). Results showed increased ARA content and decreased intraperitoneal fat index and adipocyte size in the adipose tissue of fish fed ARA ( P P