Dietary supplementation of Viligen™ to Nile tilapia improves growth and gut morphology

Abstract

We evaluated the growth, gut histomorphometry, selected immune responses and resistance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) against Streptococcus agalactiae infection when fed VILIGEN™, an additive blend containing sodium butyrate, dehydrated hydrolysed yeast and zinc proteinate. Increasing doses (0.00, 0.60, 1.20, 2.40 and 4.80 g kg−1) were added to a basal diet and randomly assigned to six groups, each with 28 fish. The fish were fed to satiation twice daily for 60 days, infected via gavage with S. agalactiae at 1.0 × 109 CFU ml−1, and mortality was recorded for 14 days. Dietary inclusion of VILIGEN™ promoted higher weight gain, gut‐fold perimeter and the number of goblet cells. Through polynomial regression, the optimal inclusion level for these variables was estimated at 2.80, 3.30 and 3.50 g kg−1, respectively. However, there was no clear effect of the additive on the immune responses tested before bacterial infection or in the survival after challenge. This is the first study on VILIGEN™ supplementation in fish diets. Higher growth and altered gut morphology were seen with the inclusion of VILIGEN™ in the range of 2.80 to 3.50 g kg−1 but the response to the bacterial challenge was not clearly affected.