The Effects of Probiotics on the Recovery of Growth, Digestive, Antioxidant, Immune Functions, and Gut Microbiota of Chinese Hooksnout Carp (Opsariichthys bidens) Under Microplastic Stress
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Microplastics threaten freshwater fish health, with probiotics potentially alleviating this stress. This study subjected Opsariichthys bidens fry to 10 μg/L polystyrene microplastics (diameter 100 μm) for seven days, then established control (CK, 0 CFU/g), low (LC, 1 × 107 CFU/g), medium (MC, 1 × 108 CFU/g), and high (HC, 1 × 109 CFU/g) Bacillus coagulans supplementation groups for a 56−day rearing experiment. Results indicated that microplastic stress significantly reduced intestinal digestive enzyme activity in O. bidens and induced oxidative stress. Following stress removal, probiotic-treated groups exhibited markedly superior growth performance compared to the control (CK). Notably, the high-concentration probiotic group (HC) demonstrated intestinal trypsin levels approaching pre-stress levels, with no significant differences in liver antioxidant capacity (T−AOC, CAT, SOD) compared to pre-stress levels (p > 0.05). Furthermore, compared to the control group (CK), probiotic-treated fish exhibited upregulated growth- and immune-related genes (igf, ghr, tnf−α, il−1β), alongside optimized gut microbiota composition, characterized by increased abundance of Bacillus and decreased abundance of Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. This study demonstrates that B. coagulans alleviates microplastic-induced stress in O. bidens, offering insights for aquatic ecosystem conservation and biological remediation of microplastic pollution.
Source: Fishes
Authors: Minghao Hu, Yanhong Li, Lixin Pan, Meixian Wu, Shanjian Zheng
Institution: Zhejiang Normal University
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Funder: Zhejiang Normal University
OpenAlex ID: W4416470603