Gossypol and gossypolone enantiomers in tissues of rainbow trout fed low and high levels of dietary cottonseed meal

Gossypol is an antifertilizing agent in males and females. However, gossypol and its metabolite, gossypolone, have also gained interest because of their anticarcinogenic activities. This paper examines for the first time both enantiomers of tissue gossypol and gossypolone in mature rainbow trout fed two diets containing low (15%) and high (60%) levels of cottonseed meal (CM) for 9 months. The gossypol concentration was highest in liver followed by kidney, intestine, testis, blood plasma, stomach, and muscle. Gossypol was detected in muscles of fish fed low- and high-CM diets (0.31 +/- 0.03 and 1.95 +/- 0.59 microg of total gossypol/g, wet basis, respectively). The (+)-gossypol enantiomer was predominantly retained in all tissues. The ratio of (-)- to total gossypol ranged from 30 to 44% in fish fed the high-CM diet and from 23 to 30% in fish fed the low-CM diet except for muscle tissue (44%). Higher gossypolone concentrations were found in intestine than in liver. Gossypolone, however, was not detected in blood plasma, muscle, and testis of fish fed the low-CM diet. The ratio of gossypolone to gossypol was highest in muscle (1.75), followed by intestine (1.59), stomach (1.50), kidney (0.43), liver (0.34), testis (0.28), and blood plasma (0.27). This study indicated that the retention of the (-)-gossypol enantiomer is dependent on dietary concentrations and that the oxidative conversion of gossypol to gossypolone occurs more actively in the digestive tract and muscle than in other tissues in rainbow trout.