LAUSR

Quercetin (Q), tea polyphenols (TP) and rutin (R) are the most widely used plant-derived active ingredients that possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumour properties, and can reduce the muscle damage caused by mycotoxins. However, few studies have examined the protective mechanisms of quercetin, tea polyphenols and rutin on muscle quality. To elucidate the protective mechanisms, shrimp were exposed to both T-2 toxin and these three antioxidants for 20 days in a dose-escalating trial. The changes in the protein composition of shrimp muscle were measured. The target proteins associated with T-2 and antioxidants were screened and identified by non-labelled quantitative proteomics. T-2 toxin induced abnormal expression of 21 target proteins, leading to the deterioration of muscle proteins in shrimp. The three antioxidants ameliorated the T-2 toxin-induced damage to muscle proteins by increasing the sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar protein contents and decreasing the alkali-soluble protein content; quercetin had the strongest protective effect. The protective processes of these antioxidants involved the up-regulation of target proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism (enolase, malate dehydrogenase), protein translation (elongation factor 1-alpha and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit alpha) and cytoskeleton component (actin 2, fast-type skeletal muscle actin 1). Quercetin regulated the largest number of target proteins, making it the best protective agent against T-2 toxin. T-2 toxin (4.80-24.30 mg/kg feed) induced changes in target proteins and muscle composition of shrimp, leading to the deterioration of muscle proteins. Quercetin (2.00-32.00 g/kg feed) had significant protective effects against this deterioration of muscle proteins in shrimp. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.