Acer truncatum leaves reduce lipid accumulation and improve liver and intestine health of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fed with high-fat diet

The purpose of this study was to explore whether Acer truncatum leaves alleviated lipid accumulation, and improved liver and intestine health of grass carp fed with high-fat diet (HFD). Grass carp were fed with regular diet (RD), HFD, HFD contained 2% A. truncatum leaves (HFD_2AL) and 4% A. truncatum leaves (HFD_4AL), respectively, for 8 weeks. Growth performance, serum biochemical indexes, histopathology, expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism, inflammation and tight junctions, and changes in intestinal microbiota of grass carp were detected. Firstly, the results show that adding A. truncatum leaves in HFD reduced liver lipid accumulation of grass carp. The 2% and 4% of A. truncatum leaves reduced the levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) and the amount of lipid droplets in the liver, and down-regulated the expression of lipogenesis-related genes (SREBP-1, PPARγ, ACC1 and FAS), but up-regulated the expression of lipolysis-related genes (CPT-1, LPL and HSL) in the liver of grass carp fed with HFD (P