Hesperidin dietary intervention mitigates ammonia stress-evoked biochemical and metabolic disruption and restores the tlr-5-nf-κβ/mapk gene expression in Oreochromis niloticus.

This study aimed to assess the protective role of dietary hesperidin (HEP) in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) under ammonia stress conditions. The investigation focuses on its capacity to alleviate ammonia-induced metabolic disorders, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses. For 60 days, 160 Nile tilapia (26.46 ± 0.17 g) were split into four equal groups (control, HEP, AMM, and AMM + HEP). The control and AMM groups were administered a basal diet, whereas the HEP and AMM + HEP groups received a basal diet containing 150 mg HEP/kg. The AMM and AMM + HEP groups were subjected to 0.21 mg/L of un-ionized ammonia. Prolonged exposure to ammonia induced oxidative stress by increasing the malondialdehyde (386.67%); however, it lowered superoxide dismutase (83.26%), catalase (86.38%), and glutathione peroxidase activities (60.72%). Ammonia poisoning elevated the total cholesterol (22.30%), triglycerides (164.04%), low density lipoprotein (41.21%), and very low density lipoprotein (164.06%), while lowering the high density lipoprotein (39.25%), total protein (53.84%), albumin (47.59%), and globulin (61.53%). In addition, ammonia poisoning increased the hepatic function markers, including total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Ammonia exposure upregulated the hepatic expression of toll-like receptor-5 (7.21-fold), tumor necrosis factor-α (6.97-fold), nuclear transcription factor kappa β (7.51-fold), interleukin-1β (7.40-fold), interleukin-6 (4.57-fold), interleukin-8 (6.36-fold), and mitogen-activated protein kinase-1 (8.05-fold), while downregulating the interleukin-10 (0.23-fold) expression. Dietary HEP improved the antioxidant capacity and liver functions, alongside ameliorating the inflammatory responses in Nile tilapia during ammonia exposure. Ultimately, ammonia poisoning in Nile tilapia tanks can be mitigated by dietary HEP (150 mg/kg), which will improve fish health and liver functions.