The role of phospholipids in nutrition and metabolism of teleost fish 2 3 4

27 It has been known for almost 25 years now that inclusion of intact phospholipids in the diet could 28 improve culture performance of various freshwater and marine fish species. The primary 29 beneficial effect was improved growth in both larvae and early juveniles, but also increased 30 survival rates and decreased incidence of malformation in larvae, and perhaps increased stress 31 resistance. Determination of absolute dietary requirements has been hampered by the use, in 32 different dietary trials, of a wide range of phospholipid preparations that can vary greatly both in 33 phospholipid content and class composition. Larval studies have been compromised further by the 34 need on many occasions to supply phospholipid through enrichment of live feeds with subsequent 35 remodelling of the phospholipid and fatty acid compositions. Generally, the levels of 36 phospholipid requirement are around 2-4% of diet for juvenile fish and probably higher in larval 37 fish. The effects were restricted to young fish, as a requirement for dietary phospholipids has not 38 been established for adult fish, although this has been virtually unstudied. As the majority of 39 studies have used crude mixed phospholipid preparations, particularly soybean lecithin, but also 40 other plant phospholipids and egg yolk lecithin, that are enriched in several phospholipids, it has 41 been difficult to elucidate which specific phospholipid classes impart beneficial effects. Based on 42 the few studies where single pure phospholipid species have been used, the rank order for efficacy 43 appears to be phosphatidylcholine > phosphatidylinositol > phosphatidylethanolamine > 44 phosphatidylserine. The efficacy of other phospholipid classes or sphingolipids is not known. The 45 mechanism underpinning the role of the phospholipids in larval and early juvenile fish must also 46 explain their lack of effect in adult fish. The role of phospholipids appears to be independent of 47 fatty acid requirements although the presence of an unsaturated fatty acid at the sn-2 position may 48 be important. Similarly, the phospholipid requirement is not related to the delivery of other 49 essential dietary components such as the bases choline and inositol. Studies also suggested that the 50 phospholipid effect was not due to generally enhanced emulsification and digestion of lipids. 51 Rather the evidence led to the hypothesis that early developing stages of fish had impaired ability 52 to transport dietary lipids away from the intestine possibly through limitations in lipoprotein 53 synthesis. The current hypothesis is …