Page 111 - 《水产学报》2025年第10期

2025, 49(10): 109609 JOURNAL OF FISHERIES OF CHINA

DOI: 10.11964/jfc.20250715048

Effects of the dietary Withania somnifera on stress-
relief and hepatoprotection in darkbarbel catfish

(Pelteobagrus vachelli)

第一作者：李森栋，从事水产动物遗
传育种研究，
LI Sendong 1,2,3# , JIANG Wenbo 1,2,3# , FENG Mengjia 1,2,3# , TANG Na 1,2,3 , E-mail：swu_sendongli@163.com

CUI Han 1,2,3 , XU Siqi 1,2,3 , ZHU Zhongqiu 1,2,3 , FENG Ke 1,2,3 ,
XU Hongyan 1,2,3*
1. Integrative Science Center of Germplasm Creation in Western China (CHONGQING)
Science City, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Edu-
cation, Chongqing 400715, China; 3. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing,
Chongqing 402460, China

通信作者：徐红艳，从事水产动物遗
传与育种研究，
Abstract: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (WS), or Ashwagandha, is used clinically E-mail: xhy20210104@swu.edu.cn

against arthritis, anxiety and insomnia etc, however, its potential in aquafeeds is largely
资助项目：国 家 重 点 研 发 计 划
unexplored. We investigated the stress-alleviation and hepatoprotective mechanisms of （2022YFD2400902）； 中央高校基本
科研业务费专项（SWU020014）；西
dietary WS supplementation in adult female darkbarbel catfish. Fish were fed with WS 南大学大学生创新创业训练计划项目
（X202510635214）
dietary for 5 weeks, subjected to a physical stressor (saline injection), and sampled. Brain
收稿日期：2025-07-03
were processed for RNA-seq to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) linked to
修回日期：2025-07-21
stress; serum were assayed for stress- and immune-related biochemical markers; livers
文章编号：
were examined for lipid content (Oil Red O staining) and proliferation (PCNA immunos- 1000-0615(2025)10-109609-24
中图分类号：S 963.7
taining). Network pharmacology were employed to construct a "compound-target" net-
文献标志码：A

work: The bioactive compounds of WS were retrieved from ChEBI and PCIDB,
作者声明本文无利益冲突
probable targets predicted via Swiss Target Prediction, and the “WS-ingredient-target”
© 《水产学报》编辑部(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
regulatory network was constructed using Cytoscape; key ligand-protein interactions were Copyright © Editorial Office of Journal of
Fisheries of China (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
validated by molecular docking. Findings were replicated in juvenile fish and in SG3 cells
challenged with Withanolide A. Physical stress evoked 1 451 DEGs in control brains,
whereas WS-supplemented reduced this to 397, indicating marked mitigation of the oxid-
ative- and immune-stress response. Network pharmacology and molecular docking pre-
dicted that 13 bioactive compounds in WS, especially Withanolide A and Withanolide J,
can interact with targets such as MAPK8, CRHR1, NR3C2, and IARS1, being associated
with stress and liver function regulation respectively. Moreover, it was proved that
Withanolide A could significantly modulate stress response in juveniles and enhanced pro-
liferation potency of SG3 cells. Intriguingly, in theadult female darkbarbel catfish, dietary
WS lowered serum cortisol, glucose, ROS, TNF-α, and IL-6 ( P < 0.05), up-regulated
hepatocyte PCNA expression, and allievated stress-induced liver injury. These findings
provide novel insights and vital basis for elucidating the mechanisms whereby herbs,
including WS act in stress-relief and hepatoprotection in darkbarbel catfish. And

中国水产学会主办 sponsored by China Society of Fisheries https://www.china-fishery.cn
1