Excessive Replacement of Fish Meal by Soy Protein Concentrate Resulted in Inhibition of Growth, Nutrient Metabolism, Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Capacity, and Intestinal Development in Juvenile Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

This study investigated the effects of replacing 0% (SPC0), 25% (SPC25), 50% (SPC50), 75% (SPC75), and 100% (SPC100) of fish meal (FM) with soy protein concentrate (SPC) on the growth, nutritional metabolism, antioxidant capacity, and inflammatory factors in juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) (17.03 ± 0.01 g). After 56 days of culturing, various growth parameters including FW, WGR, and SGR were not significantly different among SPC0, SPC25, and SPC50 groups; however, they were significantly higher than those in SPC75 and SPC100 groups. Conversely, significantly lower FCR were determined for the SPC0, SPC25, and SPC50 groups compared with that for the SPC100 group; specifically, no significant difference among SPC0, SPC25, and SPC50 groups was found. Moreover, compared with SPC75 and SPC100 groups, a significantly higher FI was observed in the SPC0 group, whereas a significantly lower SR was observed in SPC100 compared with that in SPC0 and SPC25 groups. Compared with the SPC0 group, significantly lower mRNA levels of tor, rps6, 4ebp1, pparγ, and fas were found in SPC75 and SPC100. Additionally, the mRNA levels of cpt were significantly higher in SPC0, SPC25, and SPC50 groups than in SPC75 and SPC100 groups. Moreover, the mRNA levels of scd and acc remained unchanged for all the groups. Replacement of FM with SPC did not significantly affect the mRNA levels of gk, pk, and pepck. Compared with the SPC0 group, significantly decreased activities of CAT were observed in the SPC50, SPC75, and SPC100 groups, and significantly decreased activities of GSH-Px were observed in the SPC75 and SPC100 groups. In addition, significantly lower activity of SOD was observed in SPC100 compared with the other groups. Moreover, compared with the other groups, the SPC75 and SPC100 groups had significantly decreased and increased contents of GSH and MDA, respectively, while significantly lower mRNA levels of nrf2, cat, sod, and gsh-px were found in SPC50, SPC75, and SPC100; however, significantly higher mRNA levels of keap1 were observed in SPC75 and SPC100 groups. Additionally, significantly higher mRNA levels of il-8 and nf-κb were found in the SPC50, SPC75, and SPC100 groups compared with the SPC0 group. Conversely, significantly lower mRNA levels of il-10 and significantly higher mRNA levels of tnf-α were found in the SPC75 and SPC100 groups compared with the other groups. Compared with the SPC0 group, mucosal thickness and villus height were significantly decreased in the SPC75 and SPC100 groups. Collectively, SPC replacing 50% FM did not affect its growth of juvenile largemouth bass. However, SPC replacing 50% or more FM might inhibit antioxidant capacity and immune capacity to even threaten the SR, resulting in impaired intestinal development in replacing FM level of 75% or more.