Glyphosate-induced liver and kidney dysfunction, oxidative stress, immunosuppression in Nile tilapia, but ginger showed a protection role

The water-borne herbicides are involved in the toxicity of aquatic animals resulting in impaired health status and low productivity. Dietary medicinal herbs present a practical solution to relieve the impacts of herbicides toxicity on the performances of aquatic animals. Herein, we investigated the toxicity of commercial glyphosate-induced oxidative stress, immunosuppression, liver and kidney dysfunction, and the protective role of ginger or ginger nanoparticles in Nile tilapia. Fish were allocated into four groups: the first group presented the control without glyphosate toxicity and ginger feeding, the second group intoxicated with glyphosate at 0.6 mg/L and fed ginger free diet, the third group intoxicated with glyphosate and fed ginger at 2.5 g/kg, and the fourth group intoxicated with glyphosate and fed ginger nanoparticles at 2.5 g/kg. Fish were kept under the experimental conditions for four weeks, and the samples of blood and tissues were collected after 2 and 4 weeks. Markedly, fish exposed to glyphosate showed the highest ALT and AST activities, glucose and cortisol levels, and malondialdehyde levels (MDA) in gills and tissues. While fish in the control and fish intoxicated with glyphosate and fed ginger nanoparticles had the lowest ALT and AST activities, glucose and cortisol levels, and MDA levels after 2 and 4 weeks (P \u3c 0.05). Fish fed dietary ginger had lower ALT and AST activities, glucose and cortisol levels, and MDA levels than the glyphosate intoxicated group after 2 and 4 weeks (P \u3c 0.05). Interestingly, fish-fed ginger nanoparticles showed lower urea and creatinine levels and higher total protein, albumin, and globulin than the glyphosate intoxicated group (P \u3c 0.05) and similar to the control (P \u3e 0.05). Further, fish intoxicated with glyphosate and fed ginger nanoparticles had the highest GSH, lysozyme activity, and immunoglobulin levels after 2 and 4 weeks (P \u3c 0.05). In conclusion, ginger nanoparticles are superior to the standard ginger form in enhancing the antioxidative and immune responses of Nile tilapia exposed to glyphosate

Marine-Derived Chitosan Nanoparticles Improved the Intestinal Histo-Morphometrical Features in Association with the Health and Immune Response of Grey Mullet (Liza ramada)

Marine-derived substances are known for their beneficial influences on aquatic animals’ performances and are recommended to improve intestinal health, immunity, and anti-oxidative status. The present study investigates the role of chitosan nanoparticles on the intestinal histo-morphometrical features in association with the health and immune response of Grey Mullet (Liza ramada). Chitosan nanoparticles are included in the diets at 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 g/kg and introduced to fish in a successive feeding trial for eight weeks. The final body weight (FBW), weight gain (WG), and specific growth rate (SGR) parameters are significantly increased while feed conversion ratio (FCR) decreases by chitosan nanoparticles compared to the control (p < 0.05). The morphometric analysis of the intestines reveals a significant improvement in villus height, villus width, and the number of goblet cells in chitosan-treated groups in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, there is a positive correlation between the thickness of the enterocyte brush border and the chitosan dose, referring to an increasing absorptive activity. Histologically, the intestinal wall of Grey Mullet consists of four layers; mucosa, sub-mucosa, tunica muscularis (muscular layers), and serosa. The histological examination of the L. ramada intestine shows a normal histo-morphology. The epithelial layer of intestinal mucosa is thrown into elongated finger-like projections, the intestinal villi. The values of hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cells (RBCs), total protein (TP), albumin, and globulin are significantly increased in fish fed 1, and 2 g/kg of chitosan nanoparticles compared to fish fed 0 and 0.5 g/kg (p < 0.05). The highest levels of TP and albumin are observed in fish fed 1 g/kg diet (p < 0.05). The lysozyme activity and phagocytic index are significantly enhanced by feeding chitosan nanoparticles at 0.5, 1, and 2 g/kg, whereas the phagocytic activity is improved in fish fed 1 and 2 g/kg (p < 0.05). The highest lysozyme activity and phagocytic index are observed in fish fed 1 g/kg. SOD is significantly activated by feeding chitosan nanoparticles at 1 g/kg. Simultaneously, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) activities also are enhanced by feeding chitosan at 1 and 2 g/kg, compared to fish fed 0 and 0.5 g/kg (p < 0.05). The highest GPx and CAT activities are observed in fish fed 1 g/kg (p < 0.05). Conversely, the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels are decreased by feeding chitosan at 1 and 2 g/kg, with the lowest being in fish fed 1 g/kg (p < 0.05). To summarize, the results elucidate that L. ramada fed dietary chitosan nanoparticles have a marked growth rate, immune response, and anti-oxidative response. These improvements are attributed to the potential role of chitosan nanoparticles in enhancing intestinal histo-morphometry and intestinal health. These results soundly support the possibility of using chitosan nanoparticles at 1–2 g/kg as a feasible functional supplement for aquatic animals

The Role of Zinc Microelement in Aquaculture: a Review

Trace elements are required in optimum regimes for improving the productivity and wellbeing of aquatic animals. Zinc is one of the main microelements involved in several functions in the animal’s body. Zinc potentiates the metabolism function, synthesis of essential enzymes, and the formation of hormones associated with growth, reproduction, immunity, and antioxidative roles in aquatic animals. Several sources of zinc are regularly applied in aquaculture, including inorganic, organic, and nanoparticles. Many studies examined the effects of zinc supplementation in the diets of aquatic animals. The results indicated that zinc could be included in aquafeed in a dose-dependent manner. The effects of zinc depend on the dose, source, duration of feeding, animals’ sizes, and experimental conditions. This article comprehensively discusses the results of relevant studies that investigated the effects of zinc on the performances of aquatic animals. The review also intended to update the academia with the previous and current status of using zinc in aquafeed. Furthermore, the article includes up-to-date outputs of relevant studies of using different zinc sources in aquafeed

Long term salinity disrupts the hepatic function, intestinal health, and gills antioxidative status in Nile tilapia stressed with hypoxia

In aquaculture, fish are stressed with several factors involved in impacting the growth rate and health status. Although Nile tilapia can resist brackish water conditions, hypoxia status may impair the health condition of fish. Nile tilapia were exposed to salinity water at 0, 10, and 20‰ for four weeks then the growth behavior was checked. The results showed meaningfully lowered growth rate, feed utilization, and survival rate when fish kept in 20‰ for four weeks. Then fish were subdivided into six groups (factorial design, 2 × 3) in normoxia (DO, 6 mg/L) and hypoxia (DO, 1 mg/L) conditions for 24 h. High salinity (10 and 20‰) combined with hypoxia stress-induced inflammatory features in the intestines, gills, and livers of fish. The activities of SOD, CAT, and GPX were increased in the intestines, gills, and livers of fish grown in 10 and 20‰ and exposed with hypoxia stress. Fish grown in 20‰ and stressed with hypoxia had the highest ALT, AST, and ALP levels (p < 0.05) among the groups. The highest transcription levels of Il-8, Il-1β, Ifn-γ, Tnf-α, and Caspase-3 genes and the lowest level of Il-10 gene were observed in fish exposed with 20‰ and hypoxia. The outputs of Integrated Biomarker Response (IBR) showed marked differences between fish groups with varied values. The lowest IBR was observed in fish reared in fresh water and normoxia, while the highest IBR was seen in the group of fish reared in 20‰ and hypoxia conditions (p < 0.05). These results confirm that Nile tilapia can tolerate 10‰ in normoxia but 20‰ salinity combined with hypoxia results in oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory features in the intestines, gills, and livers. The obtained results indicate that hypoxia can affect the performances of Nile tilapia reared in brackish or high-water salinity leading to severe economic loss. Further future studies are required to understand the impact of different water salinities with hypoxia in the short term and long-term periods on the productivity of Nile tilapia

The Dietary Mixture of Betaine, Lactic Acid Bacteria, and Exogenous Digestive Enzymes Enhanced the Growth Performance, Intestinal Health, and Immunity of Nile Tilapia (\u3ci\u3eOreochromis niloticus\u3c/i\u3e) Grown in Outdoor Concrete Tanks

It has been illustrated that using mixtures of feed additives is more efficient than using individual additives in aquaculture. Hence, this study aimed to study a dietary mixture of betaine, lactic acid bacteria, and exogenous digestive enzymes (ble) on the growth perfor-mance, digestion capacity, intestinal health, and blood indices of Nile tilapia reared outdoors in concrete tanks. Five diets were prepared where the basal diets were mixed with BLE at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1%. After 90 days, the growth performance of Nile tilapia fed BLE was markedly enhanced in fish fed 0.25 and 0.5% of BLE, while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was reduced (P\u3c0.05). The lipase activ-ity was significantly higher in tilapia fed BLE at 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75% than 0 and 1%. The amylase activity was meaningfully increased by 0.5% of BLE than 0, 0.25, 0.75, and 1%. The protease activity was significantly higher in tilapia fed BLE at 0.25 and 0.5 than 0, 0.75, and 1% (P\u3c0.05). The intestine of fish fed on BLE showed an increase in intestinal villi density. The villi length, width, and the number of goblet cells were markedly higher in the anterior, middle, and posterior segments of the intestines of tilapia fed ble than in the control group (P\u3c0.05). Further, fish fed BLE had higher intestinal morphometry indices and count of goblet cells than the control. Significantly fish fed 0.25, and 0.5% of BLE had higher hemoglobulin, and hematocrit levels than fish fed 0, 0.75, and 1%. While, fish fed 0.5% had higher red blood cells than fish fed the remaining BLE levels (P\u3c0.05). On the other hand, no marked effects for BLE supplementation were seen on the alanine aminotransferase (alT), aspartate aminotransferase (asT), total protein, albumin, globulin, creatinine, uric acid, and urea. The regression analysis showed that the maximum dose of BLE supplementation to achieve the highest final weight and the lowest FCR is 0.46% and 0.42%, respectivel

Effect of dietary sage (Salvia officinalis L.) on the growth performance, feed efficacy, blood indices, non-specific immunity, and intestinal microbiota of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

Adding medicinal herbs to aquafeed is recommended for feasible aquaculture activity. This study tested for 90 days the effect of dietary sage (Salvia officinalis L.) on the growth performance, feed efficacy, blood indices, non-specific immunity, and intestinal microbiota of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax; n = 300 fish). Fish with an initial weight of 12 ± 0.1 g/fish were distributed in five treatments and fed sage at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 g/kg. Dietary sage at 2 g/kg diet improved the growth, feed consumption, and growth hormone secretion in European sea bass. The blood parameters in European sea bass fed on experimental diets showed normal levels for healthy fish. Significantly higher lysozyme and phagocytic activities were recorded with sage supplement at the 4 g/kg diet compared to other groups. Regarding overall bacterial count, fish given a sage-free diet (the control) showed more significant microbiota numbers, Vibrio, Escherichia coli, and acid-fermentative bacteria. Remarkably, fish fed on diets fortified with sage displayed lower records of the total bacterial count, Vibrio, and Escherichia coli than the control. Moreover, fish fed a diet enriched with high levels of sage (6 or 8 g/kg) showed increased acid-fermentative bacteria. The regression analysis showed that the optimum quantity of sage at 3.6 – 4.1 g/kg diet is recommended based on the weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), phagocytic activity, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and lysozyme activity. In conclusion, the dietary incorporation of sage (2 – 4 g/ kg diet) enhanced growth, feed efficacy, blood indices, non-specific immune responses, and sustained healthier gut flora in European sea bass