Effect of Substituting Fish Oil with Camelina Oil on Growth Performance, Fatty Acid Profile, Digestibility, Liver Histology, and Antioxidative Status of Red Seabream (Pagrus major)

A 56-day feeding trial to evaluate the responses of red seabream (initial weight: 1.8 ± 0.02 g) to the substitution of fish oil (FO) with camelina oil (CO) at different ratios was conducted. The control diet formulated at 46% CP (6F0C) contained only FO without CO; from the second to the fifth diet, the FO was substituted with CO at rates of 5:1 (5F1C), 4:2 (4F2C), 3:3 (3F3C), 2:4 (2F4C), and 0:6 (0F6C). The results of the present study showed that up to full substitution of FO with CO showed no significant effect on growth variables BW = 26.2 g–28.3 g), body weight gain (BWG = 1275.5–1365.3%), specific growth rate (SGR = 4.6–4.7), feed intake (FI = 25.6–27.8), feed conversion ratio (FCR = 1.0–1.1), biometric indices condition factor (CF = 2.2–2.4), hepatosomatic index (HSI = 0.9–1.1), viscerasomatic index (VSI = 7.5–9.5), and survival rates (SR = 82.2–100) with different FO substitution levels with CO. Similarly, there were no significant differences (p < 0.05) found in the whole-body composition except for the crude lipid content, and the highest value was observed in the control group (291 g/kg) compared to the other groups FO5CO1 (232 k/kg), FO4CO2 (212 g/kg), FO2CO4 (232 g/kg) and FO0CO6 (244 g/kg). Blood chemistry levels were not influenced in response to test diets: hematocrit (36–33%), glucose (Glu = 78.3–71.3 mg/dL), total protein (T-pro = 3.1–3.8 g/dL), total cholesterol (T-Chol = 196.0–241 mg/dL), blood urea nitrogen (BUN = 9.0–14.6 mg/dL), total bilirubin (T-Bil = 0.4–0.5 mg/dL), triglyceride (TG = 393.3–497.6 mg/dL), alanine aminotransferase test (ALT = 50–65.5 UL/L), aspartate aminotransferase test (AST = 38–69.3 UL/L). A remarkable modulation was observed in catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the liver, as CAT and SOD values were lower with the complete FO substitution with CO (0F6C), and the highest values were observed in the control and (4F2C). This study indicates that red seabream may have the ability to maintain LC-PUFAs between tissues and diets, and CO substitution of FO could improve both lipid metabolism and oxidation resistance as well as maintain digestibility. In conclusion, dietary FO can be replaced up to 100% or 95% by CO in the diets of red seabream as long as n-3 HUFA, EPA, and DHA are incorporated at the recommended level

Effect of tonophosphan, zinc oxide, and ascorbic acid on semen, sexual desire, and the fertility rate of Egyptian buffalo bulls

A twenty weeks experimental trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of using tonophosphan (8 ml injection), zinc oxide (ZnO) at 0.8 g oral dose and ascorbic acid (AA) at 0.5% oral dose of live body weight on reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo bulls (n = 20, 550–600 kg). The overall mean of all treated groups yielded marked improvement in all semen physical characteristics. Reaction time (RT), scrotal circumference, testicular volume, the concentration of semen fructose, testosterone, total proteins, and albumin in blood plasma were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved in all treatment groups compared with the control, but were greater in tonophosphan group. The highest concentrations of phosphorus and zinc in blood or semen were observed in tonophosphan and zinc treatments, respectively as compared to other groups. Overall mean of all semen physical characteristics and sperm outputs were not affected by advancing collection weeks. Meanwhile, the testosterone concentration and testicular volume increased (P ≤ 0.05), whereas the reaction time did not vary. The conception rate of buffalo cows was the highest (P ≤ 0.05) in tonophosphan (82.8%), followed by ascorbic acid and zinc (77.1 and 74.2%) as compared to the control group (60%). These findings suggested that tonophosphan, zinc oxide, and ascorbic acid supplementation improved the reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo bulls; however, tonophosphan showed better performance. Keywords: Buffalo bulls, Phosphorus, Zinc, Vitamin C, Semen, Fertility, Sexual desire, Conception rat