Metabolomic insights into fish osmoregulation: Unveiling adaptive mechanisms to salinity change.

Salinity fluctuation is a major environmental driver influencing fish physiology and aquaculture performance. Metabolomics offers a systems perspective on the small molecule networks underlying osmoregulation. This review synthesizes studies across fish species to identify conserved metabolic responses to salinity change, including shifts in energy metabolism, amino acid turnover, and organic osmolyte synthesis. We evaluate the strengths and limitations of current analytical platforms (NMR, LC-MS, GC-MS) in metabolite coverage and identification, and highlight emerging approaches such as spatial metabolomics, multi-omics integration, and machine learning. By linking metabolic patterns to physiological and aquacultural outcomes, this work clarifies the molecular basis of salinity adaptation and offers actionable guidance for improving salinity tolerance in aquaculture.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D:Genomics and Proteomics

• Publication date

  2026-01-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.cbd.2025.101742PMID 41506122
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Transcriptomic Insights into Dual Temperature–Salinity Stress Response in “Shuike No. 1”, a Pioneering Rainbow Trout Strain Bred in China

  2025cited by this paper
• Effects of chronic salinity stress on growth performance, physiological response and intestinal microbiota of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).

  2025cited by this paper
• Temporal Effects of Lipid Oversupply on Energy Metabolism and Mitochondrial Homeostasis in Hepatocytes

  2025cited by this paper
• Elucidation of phenolic metabolites combined with OPLS-DA in pseudocarps and leaves of cashew (Anacardium occidentale L) cultivars using LC-MS/MS

  2025cited by this paper
• Comprehensive multi-omics and biochemical analysis to elucidate the molecular response mechanisms of gill and kidney tissues under acute salinity stress in Pseudobagras ussuriensis

  2025cited by this paper
• MS2MP: A Deep Learning Framework for Metabolic Pathway Prediction from MS/MS-Based Untargeted Metabolomics.

  2025cited by this paper
• Transcriptome analysis revealed that largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) may mobilize liver lipid metabolism to provide energy for adaptation to hypertonic stress

  2025cited by this paper
• Integrative transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal preliminary molecular mechanisms of gills response to salinity stress in Micropterus salmoides

  2025cited by this paper
• Multi-omics insights into antioxidant and immune responses in Penaeus monodon under ammonia-N, low salinity, and combined stress.

  2025cited by this paper
• Spatial metabolomics revealed multi-organ toxicity and visualize metabolite changes induced by borneol in zebrafish.

  2025cited by this paper
• NMR and MS reveal characteristic metabolome atlas and optimize esophageal squamous cell carcinoma early detection

  2024cited by this paper
• Effect of some feed additives on osmoregulation in aquatic animals

  2024cited by this paper
• LC-MS untargeted metabolomics reveals metabolic disturbance and ferroptosis in MWCNTs-induced hepatotoxicity of Cyprinus carpio.

  2024cited by this paper
• An end-to-end deep learning method for mass spectrometry data analysis to reveal disease-specific metabolic profiles

  2024cited by this paper
• Regulation and Response Mechanism of Acute Low-Salinity Stress during Larval Stages in Macrobrachium rosenbergii Based on Multi-Omics Analysis

  2024cited by this paper
• AI-driven discovery of blood xenobiotic biomarkers in neovascular age-related macular degeneration using iterative random forests

  2024cited by this paper
• Effects of different curing concentrations and drying times on the microbial community structure and metabolites of dried Spanish mackerel.

  2024cited by this paper
• Salinity tolerance of fishes: Experimental approaches and implications for aquaculture production

  2024cited by this paper
• GC-MS and LC-MS/MS metabolomics revealed dynamic changes of volatile and non-volatile compounds during withering process of black tea.

  2023cited by this paper
• Mechanisms for improving the quality of crucian carp (Carassius auratus) by short-term low-salinity treatment revealed by UPLC-MS and GC–MS

  2023cited by this paper
• Metabolic pathway analysis using stable isotopes in patients with cancer

  2023cited by this paper
• Physiological, metabolomic, and transcriptomic reveal metabolic pathway alterations in Gymnocypris przewalskii due to cold exposure

  2023cited by this paper
• Amino acid metabolism in health and disease

  2023cited by this paper
• Untargeted LC-MS metabolomics reveals the metabolic responses in olive flounder subjected to hirame rhabdovirus infection

  2023cited by this paper
• Renal metabolomic profiling of large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea acclimated in low salinity waters.

  2023cited by this paper
• Targeting glutamine metabolism as a therapeutic strategy for cancer

  2023cited by this paper
• Research advances in the structure, function, and regulation of the gill barrier in teleost fish

  2023cited by this paper
• Metabolism response mechanism in the gill of Oreochromis mossambicus under salinity, alkalinity and saline-alkalinity stresses.

  2023cited by this paper
• A crucial role in osmoregulation against hyperosmotic stress: Carbohydrate and inositol metabolism in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

  2023cited by this paper
• Multi-dimensional investigation and distribution characteristics analysis of gut microbiota of different marine fish in Fujian Province of China

  2022cited by this paper
• Metabolism responses in the intestine of Oreochromis mossambicus exposed to salinity, alkalinity and salt-alkalinity stress using LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics.

  2022cited by this paper
• Intestinal osmoregulatory mechanisms differ in Mediterranean and Atlantic European sea bass: A focus on hypersalinity.

  2022cited by this paper
• Ion Transporters and Osmoregulation in the Kidney of Teleost Fishes as a Function of Salinity

  2021cited by this paper
• The influence of environmental calcium on the branchial morphology in a catadromous fish

  2021cited by this paper
• Environmental salinity influences the branchial expression of TCR pathway related genes based on transcriptome of a catadromous fish.

  2021cited by this paper
• Cold acclimation can specifically inhibit chlorophyll biosynthesis in young leaves of Pakchoi

  2021cited by this paper
• Time-course studies of osmoregulatory responses in different salinities for the marbled eel (Anguilla marmorata)

  2021cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of acclimation to hypersalinity in two European sea bass lineages: a focus on the kidney function

  2021cited by this paper
• The integrated analyses of metabolomics and transcriptomics in gill of GIFT tilapia in response to long term salinity challenge

  2021cited by this paper
• New software tools, databases, and resources in metabolomics: updates from 2020

  2021cited by this paper
• Age-Dependent Decline in Salinity Tolerance in a Euryhaline Fish

  2021cited by this paper
• Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics: a guide for annotation, quantification and best reporting practices

  2021cited by this paper
• Toxicometabolomics of lindane in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) using GC-MS/MS and LC-Orbitrap-MS/MS

  2021cited by this paper
• Plants Metabolome Study: Emerging Tools and Techniques

  2021cited by this paper
• Metabolic Changes in Scylla paramamosain During Adaptation to an Acute Decrease in Salinity

  2021cited by this paper
• Metabolomics in salmonid aquaculture research: Applications and future perspectives

  2021cited by this paper
• Effect of high salinity acclimation on glucose homeostasis in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)

  2021cited by this paper
• High-throughput metabolomics method based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: insights into the underlying mechanisms of salinity-alkalinity exposures-induced metabolites changes in Barbus capito.

  2020cited by this paper
• The influence of Ca2+ concentration on voltage-dependent L-type calcium channels' expression in the marbled eel (Anguilla marmorata).

  2020cited by this paper
• Harnessing genomics to fast-track genetic improvement in aquaculture

  2020cited by this paper
• Toxicological effects of nano- and micro-polystyrene plastics on red tilapia: Are larger plastic particles more harmless?

  2020cited by this paper
• Individual and combined effects of salinity and lipopolysaccharides on the immune response of juvenile Takifugu fasciatus

  2019cited by this paper
• Breeding Has Increased the Diversity of Cultivated Tomato in The Netherlands

  2019cited by this paper
• Using MetaboAnalyst 4.0 for Comprehensive and Integrative Metabolomics Data Analysis

  2019cited by this paper
• Metabolic responses in the gills of tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) exposed to salinity stress using NMR-based metabolomics.

  2019cited by this paper
• Menstrual cycle rhythmicity: metabolic patterns in healthy women

  2018cited by this paper
• Physiological mechanism of osmoregulatory adaptation in anguillid eels

  2018cited by this paper
• Phenotypic Plasticity in Morphological and Physiological Responses in Gills of Seawater‐ and Fresh water‐acclimated Asian Sea Bass, Lates calcarifer

  2018cited by this paper
• Identification of immune‐related genes in gill cells of Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica) in adaptation to water salinity changes

  2018cited by this paper
• NMR-based metabolomic study on the toxicological effects of pesticide, diazinon on adaptation to sea water by endangered Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus fingerlings.

  2017cited by this paper
• Metabolite and gene expression responses in juvenile flounder Paralichthys olivaceus exposed to reduced salinities

  2017cited by this paper
• Metabolomic Studies in Drosophila

  2017cited by this paper
• Metabolomics: A Primer.

  2017cited by this paper
• Dimension reduction techniques for the integrative analysis of multi-omics data

  2016cited by this paper
• Using MetaboAnalyst 3.0 for Comprehensive Metabolomics Data Analysis

  2016cited by this paper
• Untargeted Metabolomics Strategies—Challenges and Emerging Directions

  2016cited by this paper
• Metabolomics – an overview. From basic principles to potential biomarkers (part 1)

  2016cited by this paper
• Ocean Salinity and the Global Water Cycle

  2015cited by this paper
• Physiological mechanisms used by fish to cope with salinity stress

  2015cited by this paper
• The emergence of metabolomics as a key discipline in the drug discovery process.

  2015cited by this paper
• Transcriptome Profiling and Molecular Pathway Analysis of Genes in Association with Salinity Adaptation in Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

  2015cited by this paper
• Development of a Promising Fish Model (Oryzias melastigma) for Assessing Multiple Responses to Stresses in the Marine Environment

  2014cited by this paper
• Effects of salinity on metabolic rate and branchial expression of genes involved in ion transport and metabolism in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).

  2014cited by this paper
• Glucose metabolism in fish: a review

  2012cited by this paper
• New insights into gill ionocyte and ion transporter function in euryhaline and diadromous fish.

  2012cited by this paper
• LC-MS-based metabolomics.

  2012cited by this paper
• Genomic mechanisms of evolved physiological plasticity in killifish distributed along an environmental salinity gradient

  2011cited by this paper
• Procedures for large-scale metabolic profiling of serum and plasma using gas chromatography and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

  2011cited by this paper
• Probabilistic principal component analysis for metabolomic data

  2010cited by this paper
• Some insights into energy metabolism for osmoregulation in fish.

  2008cited by this paper
• Seven Golden Rules for heuristic filtering of molecular formulas obtained by accurate mass spectrometry

  2007cited by this paper
• Statistical strategies for avoiding false discoveries in metabolomics and related experiments

  2007cited by this paper
• Effects of environmental salinity and temperature on osmoregulatory ability, organic osmolytes, and plasma hormone profiles in the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).

  2007cited by this paper
• Food deprivation alters osmoregulatory and metabolic responses to salinity acclimation in gilthead sea bream Sparus auratus

  2006cited by this paper
• The multifunctional fish gill: dominant site of gas exchange, osmoregulation, acid-base regulation, and excretion of nitrogenous waste.

  2005cited by this paper
• Improved methods for the acquisition and interpretation of NMR metabolomic data.

  2003cited by this paper
• How should salinity influence fish growth?

  2001cited by this paper
• Combining Genomics, Metabolome Analysis, and Biochemical Modelling to Understand Metabolic Networks

  2001cited by this paper
• 'Metabonomics': understanding the metabolic responses of living systems to pathophysiological stimuli via multivariate statistical analysis of biological NMR spectroscopic data.

  1999cited by this paper
• Systematic functional analysis of the yeast genome.

  1998cited by this paper
• Living with water stress: evolution of osmolyte systems.

  1982cited by this paper
• Quantitative analysis of urine vapor and breath by gas-liquid partition chromatography.

  1971cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.