Effect of Dietary Polyherbal Mixture on Growth Performance, Haemato-Immunological Indices, Antioxidant Responses, and Intestinal Morphometry of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

A 56-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the dietary effect of Nigeria polyherbal mixture (PHB) on growth, haemato-immune parameters, antioxidant enzyme activities, and intestinal morphometry of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Four diets were formulated with PHB powder at inclusion of 0 g/kg (control), 0.5 g/kg (PHB 0.5), 1.0 g/kg (PHB 1.0), and 2.0 g/kg (PHB 2.0) and fed to African catfish ( 6.32 ± 0.02 g /fish, 15 fish/50 L tank) in triplicates. Fish fed PHB 2.0 recorded higher final weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate ( p < 0.05 ) compared to the control. There were no statistical differences ( p > 0.05 ) in feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio among the dietary groups. The haematological profile indicates that the fish fed PHB-1.0 had higher Hb, RBCs count, and Hct, and blood performance ( p < 0.05 ) compared to the control. ALT levels were found higher in the control and the lowest values recorded in PHB groups ( p < 0.05 ); however, AST did not differ significantly among the groups ( p > 0.05 ). The highest heterophil counts and respiratory burst activity were recorded in PHB-1.0 and PHB-0.5 and PHB-2.0, respectively, while a numerically improved total immunoglobulin value was recorded in PHB-0.5 compared to the control ( p > 0.05 ). Antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase had a significant improvement in fish fed PHB-based diet compared to the control ( p < 0.05 ), while glutathione peroxidase showed no statistical differences between the groups ( p > 0.05 ). Intestinal morphometric measurements showed that the fish fed PHB-1.0 had the highest villus height, area of absorption, and villus height/cryptal depth ratio compared to the control. Muscle thickness increased ( p < 0.05 ) with increasing PHB level with the highest value recorded PHB-2.0. In conclusion, dietary PHB could improve growth, blood profile, immunity, antioxidant enzyme capacity, and intestinal morphometry of African catfish without any significant alteration in the liver function enzymes.

Dietary supplementation of Polygonum chinense improves the immunity of Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) against Vibrio harveyi infection

“…After being challenged with V. harveyi , the fish fed on diets containing P. chinense extract in the current study displayed considerably increased lysozyme activity. After A. hydrophila challenge, lysozyme activity increased in Labeo rohita fed a diet containing single or mixed Psidium guajava and Mangifera indica extracts [80] . Oreochromis niloticus infected with A. hydrophila and fed a diet containing Withania sominefera extract showed increased lysozyme activity as well [81] .…”

A blend of Guava, Bitter, and Neem Leaf extracts improves haematology and resistance to co-infection of Streptococcus agalactiae and Aeromonas jandaie but not Liver health in Nile tilapia

“…Generally, our findings suggest that for optimal performance, the 5 GBNL gkg −1 application would be the best choice because it showed better performance compared to the others and the control. Similarly, the Common carp [ 28 ], and the African catfish [ 38 ] fed a blend of herbal extracts were reported to have showed significant improvement in the above-mentioned biochemical indices.…”

Reparative effect of different dietary additives on soybean meal-induced intestinal injury in yellow drum (Nibea albiflora)

“…The sealed sections were imaged using a 250 FLASH digital pathology system (3DHISTECH, Hungary). Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software (Media Cybernetics) was used to analyze the intestinal villus height (IVH), intestinal muscle thickness (IMRT), intestinal mucosal thickness (IMLT), and crypt depth (CD) in each group (7,24,25).…”