Dietary inclusion of royal jelly modulates gene expression and activity of oxidative stress enzymes in zebrafish.

Here we investigated the effects of different levels of royal jelly in zebrafish (Danio rerio) diets [0.0% (D1); 0.1% (D2); 0.4% (D3); 1.6% (D4) vs 6.4% (D5)] on the activity and expression profiles of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase. Muscle, liver and kidney tissue samples were obtained from fish fed during 8 weeks. In these tissues, enzyme activity was determined by means of spectrophotometer and gene expression by quantitative real-time PCR. mRNA levels of the enzymes were elevated in almost all diet groups compared to the control (D1). It was determined that enzyme activities were also increased in general by supplementation of royal jelly although some decreases were also observed. However, the significant correlation between gene expression and enzyme activity was not observed in all tissues. It was concluded that main regulation occurs with post-translational modifications although effects at transcriptomic level demonstrated a snap variation.