ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Nutritional Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1658061
Effects of dietary Supplementation with fermented Astragalus membranaceus on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal barrier function of common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Provisionally accepted
Yingqian Han1*
Baocai Ma1Mingyu Wangshao1Xiufen Wang1Jianxun Guo1Xiaoying Su1Shuang Guo1Guoyu Yang2Jiajia Pan1Hongtao Shi2- 1Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
- 2Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Oxidative stress hinders the growth and intestinal function of aquatic animals, reducing aquaculture profits. While Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is known for its antioxidant properties, its low bioavailability is a drawback. Probiotic fermentation can enhance AM's pharmaceutical efficacy. This study assessed the effects of various probiotic-fermented AM preparations on the growth performance, antioxidant activity, and intestinal health of common carp over an 8-week experimental period. The findings demonstrated that supplementation with fermented AM preparations significantly improved the final body weight, weight gain rate, specific growth rate, and feed protein efficiency of common carp, while markedly decreasing the feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a notable enhancement in serum antioxidant activity and immune responses, evidenced by increased levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, lysozyme, and phagocytic activity (p < 0.05), alongside reduced levels of malondialdehyde (p < 0.05). The supplementation also improved intestinal health by enhancing intestinal barrier function, as indicated by the stimulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, which led to increased expression of tight junction proteins (p < 0.05). Additionally, it promoted the formation of the intestinal mucus layer, increased the secretion of lysozyme and alkaline phosphatase (p < 0.05), activated the Nrf2 signaling pathway to upregulate antioxidant-related genes (p < 0.05), and inhibited the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby reducing pro-inflammatory responses. These findings indicate that fermented AM preparations can improve the antioxidant potential and immune functions, thus promote the growth of common carp.
Keywords: fermented Astragalus membranaceus, antioxidant, intestinal barrier, Growth, common carp
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 13 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Han, Ma, Wangshao, Wang, Guo, Su, Guo, Yang, Pan and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yingqian Han, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.