Dietary lipid levels affect lipoprotein clearance, fatty acid transport, lipogenesis and lipolysis at the transcriptional level in muscle and adipose tissue of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea)

To investigate the effect of dietary lipid levels on lipid metabolism in muscle and adipose tissue of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea), fish (average body weight 150.0g) were fed to one of three diets with a low (6%), moderate (12%, the control diet) or high (18%) crude lipid level for 10weeks. The expression of genes related to lipoprotein clearance (lpl, ldlr, lrp1 and srbi), fatty acid transport (cd36, fatp1, fabp3 and fabp11), lipogenesis (fas and dgat2) and lipolysis (atgl, cpt1 and aco) in muscle and adipose tissue was analysed. In muscle of fish fed the low-lipid diet, the expression of lpl, lrp1, fas, dgat2 and atgl was significantly downregulated, whereas fabp3 and fabp11 were significantly upregulated compared with those fed the control diet. In muscle of fish fed the high-lipid diet, the expression of lpl, ldlr, lrp1, cd36, fabp3, fas and dgat2 was significantly decreased, while fabp11 expression was significantly increased compared with those fed the control diet. Compared with the control group, only a significant downregulation of fabp3 expression in adipose tissue was observed in the low-lipid group. In the high-lipid group compared with the control group, the expression of ldlr, fabp11, dgat2, atgl and aco in adipose tissue was significantly upregulated, whereas cpt1 expression in adipose tissue was significantly downregulated. These results indicated that the expression of the selected key genes related to lipid metabolism was tissue-specific regulation by dietary lipid levels in large yellow croaker.