{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T11:55:43Z","timestamp":1785412543282,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]],"date-time":"2026-05-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778889600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32303067"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32303067"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["32303067"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32303067"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012547","name":"Guangxi Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2024GXNSFAA010004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024GXNSFAA010004"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012547","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Program","award":["JCYJ20230807111459009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20230807111459009"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Program","award":["JCYJ20250604185728037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20250604185728037"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009996","name":"Shaanxi province Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2023BSHYDZZ83"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023BSHYDZZ83"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009996","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Opening Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Natural Products and Combinatorial Biosynthesis Chemistry","award":["GXMNPCBC-2023-04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GXMNPCBC-2023-04"]}]},{"name":"Open Foundation of Yulin Research Institute of Genuine Herbs of Qin Medicine","award":["YLDQ-2024-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YLDQ-2024-02"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2023M732889"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023M732889"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2024T170733"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024T170733"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["2023M732889"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023M732889"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0426zh255","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2024T170733"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024T170733"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0426zh255","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Xi\u2019an Science and Technology Bureau Fund","award":["24NYGG0024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24NYGG0024"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Matrine, a bioactive alkaloid from Sophora flavescens, has gained attention as a phytogenic additive due to its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties. Nevertheless, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is highly vulnerable to Streptococcus agalactiae infection under intensive aquaculture, leading to immune dysfunction and economic losses. This study aimed to evaluate the potential application of dietary matrine supplementation in enhancing tilapia health, growth performance, and resistance to bacterial infection. Fish were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control, 0.1% matrine (low dose), 0.5% matrine (medium dose), and 1.0% matrine (high dose). Blood, liver, spleen, intestine, head kidney, and muscle were sampled on days 0, week 4, and week 8 for growth, immune, and oxidative stress analyses. Subsequently, fish were challenged with S. agalactiae to evaluate immune gene expression and liver histopathology across groups. The results showed that dietary matrine supplementation significantly improved growth performance and feed conversion efficiency, enhanced nonspecific immune responses, and increased antioxidant enzyme activities. Moreover, 0.5% and 1.0% matrine markedly reduced mortality and hepatic injury after bacterial challenge. These findings indicate that matrine acts as an effective natural immunomodulator and may contribute to hepato-intestinal health, and dietary supplementation at 1.0% represents the relatively favorable inclusion level under the present conditions for improving health status and supporting sustainable Nile tilapia aquaculture.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16101527","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T08:56:27Z","timestamp":1779094587000},"page":"1527","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dietary Matrine Supplementation Enhances Growth, Immunity and Disease Resistance in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Siyu","family":"Luo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Institute of Northwest A&F University, Sanya 572024, China"},{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Natural Products and Combinatorial Biosynthesis Chemistry, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning 530007, China"},{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Institute of Northwest A&F University, Sanya 572024, China"},{"name":"College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Institute of Northwest A&F University, Sanya 572024, China"},{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yifan","family":"Zhai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinyi","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4495-8822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shupeng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3408-1932","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Erlei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0596-6157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dengfeng","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Natural Products and Combinatorial Biosynthesis Chemistry, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning 530007, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Du","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Yulin Research Institute of Genuine Herbs of Qin Medicine, Yulin University, Yulin 719000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5042-4093","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tianqiang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hainan Institute of Northwest A&F University, Sanya 572024, China"},{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, 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China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"735309","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aquaculture.2020.735309","article-title":"Low-gossypol cottonseed protein concentrate used as a replacement of fish meal for juvenile hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus \u2640 \u00d7 Epinephelus lanceolatus \u2642): Effects on growth performance, immune responses and intestinal microbiota","volume":"524","author":"Ye","year":"2020","journal-title":"Aquaculture"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101026","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aqrep.2022.101026","article-title":"Dietary glycine supplementation modulates antioxidant and immune responses of beluga, Huso huso, juveniles","volume":"23","author":"Hoseini","year":"2022","journal-title":"Aquac. 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