The administration of yeast-derived immunostimulants leads to improvement of the immune system and growth performance preventing the antibiotics misuses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary Actigen Ò [0, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08 % of Actigen (ACT)], on the immunological and physiological responses and growth performance of tilapia after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inoculation. The experiment was conducted in two trials. In the first trial, the ACT was offered for 30 and 60 days; in the second trial, the ACT was offered for 60 days, and then fish were challenged by intraperitoneal injection with LPS and sampled at 5 and 12 days after inoculation. After the first trial, immunological, hematological and biochemical parameters, intestinal morphology and the growth performance were assessed, whereas in the second trial, immunological, hematological and biochemical parameters were assessed. Supplementation of diets with ACT showed a significant effect mainly after 60 days of feeding, with increased lysozyme, globulin, HTC, MCV, erythroblasts, leukocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes. A general decrease in cells and globulin occurred at 5 days after the LPS challenge, with partial recovery at 12 days after the challenge. In addition, the study demonstrated that the use of ACT, an extract derived from yeast cell walls and containing

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The apparent digestibility coefficients for crude protein (ADCCP), dry matter (ADCDM), and gross energy (ADCGE) of ingredients were determined for piapara (Megaleporinus obtusidens). Test diets were formulated to contain 69.5% of reference diet, 0.5% of chromium oxide, and 30% of test ingredients. The protein ingredients evaluated were tilapia processing residue meal (TPRM), feather and poultry blood meal (FPBM), poultry by-product meal (PBM), meat and bone meal (MBM), cottonseed meal (CM), corn gluten meal (CGM), and soybean meal (SM); the energy ingredients tested were corn (C), corn germ meal (CGRM), rice meal (RM), wheat bran (WB), and sorghum (S). Groups of 30 piaparas were fed twice daily during five days with test diets. Intestinal morphometry of fish were also evaluated. Digestibility coefficients of protein and energy ingredients were highest for soybean meal (ADCDM = 85.8%; ADCCP = 95.2%; and ADCGE = 87.2%) and corn (ADCDM = 94.5%; ADCCP = 76.2%; and ADCGE = 89.3%), respectively. Of the energy test ingredients analyzed, corn had the highest digestibility coefficients and induced beneficial changes on intestinal morphology compared to sorghum and corn germ meal. All protein ingredients showed potential for use in piapara diets, except meat and bone meal .