Are mesopelagic organisms nutritious food? Impact on metabolism, availability of nutrients, and contaminants from dietary intervention in C57BL/6J mice model
Mahjour Azad, Atabak; Myrmel, Lene Secher; Wiech, Martin; Nøstbakken, Ole Jakob; Fjære, Even; Lundebye, Anne-Katrine; Ho, Quang Tri; Madsen, Lise
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Published version
Date
2024Metadata
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Abstract
Mesopelagic species are unexplored novel low-trophic sources of essential micronu-trients and may contribute to combat malnutrition. In this study, common mesopelagicspecies from the North Sea including Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica),glacier lanternfish (Benthosema glaciale), and Muller’s pearlside (Maurolicus muel-leri) were supplemented in mice feed using a Western diet recipe. The metabolicoutcomes were subsequently compared to those of ordinary seafood. Consumptionof mesopelagic species induced a large variation in weight gain, in the followingorder: lanternfish (7.1 g) > krill (14.4 g) > control (19.7 g) > pearlside (22.6 g). Thelanternfish-supplemented diet containing wax esters reduced weight gain and obesityand improved insulin sensitivity. The wax esters from the lanternfish-supplementeddiet were efficiently absorbed, with more than 92% of the fatty alcohols being assim-ilated. The inclusion of lanternfish and pearlside led to improvements in the fatty acid(FA) composition in the mouse liver, evidenced by increased levels of essential long-chain polyunsaturated FAs and an increased n-3/n-6 ratio (0.7 to 1.45 vs. 0.46 in controlgroup). Notably, no adverse effects were found in mice fed pearlside and lanternfish,although an elevated level of fluoride in femur bone was observed in mice fed a dietsupplemented with krill followed by reduced sperm concentration and sperm motility.Collectively, our findings underscore the diverse array of metabolic and physiologi-cal effects induced by the consumption of mesopelagic species. Furthermore, thesespecies can be considered as good sources of n-3 FAs and essential vitamins, suggestingtheir potential value to human nutrition.