The effects of vitamin E on non-specific immune response of the juvenile soft-shelled turtle Pelodiscus sinensis

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary vitamin E supplements on non-specific immune responses in juvenile soft-shelled turtles. Turtles were fed diets supplemented with vitamin E at 0 (control), 50, 250, 500, 1000 and 5000 mg/kg, respectively, for 4 weeks. Results showed that blood cell phagocytosis and serum bactericidal activity were significantly improved in turtles from two diets (250 and 500 mg/kg vitamin E supplementation), while had no significant improvement in turtles from the three remaining diets (50, 1000 and 5000 mg/kg vitamin E supplementation) when compared to turtles from the control group. Serum bacteriolytic activity in turtles from diets with 50, 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg vitamin E supplementation were higher than activity levels quantified for the control group, but no significant difference was observed between the 5000 mg/kg vitamin E supplementation diet and the control diet. The results suggest that vitamin E has an upper and lower threshold for improving non-specific immune function in soft-shelled turtles, and the optimal supplementation may be between 250 and 500 mg/kg.

The effects of vitamin E on NK cell activity and lymphocyte proliferation in treated mice by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

“…vitamin C and E combination alleviated the decreases of spleen lymphocyte transformation and activity of nature kill cell (NK cell), antagonized the increase of serum and liver lipid peroxide levels, alleviated the decrease of superoxide dismutases (SOD) activity caused by cyclophosphamide in mice (9) ; Vitamin E and selenium combination partly retracted the declining of immunoglobin level and circulating immunecomplex (CIC) caused by malathion in chicken. (10) Vitamin E or a combination of vitamin E with vitamin C promoted the non-specific immune function in soft-shelled turtles, (11,12) declined or partly declined disadvantage effects from acid-stress. (13,14) In vitro, vitamin E significantly decreased the IL-8 expression of human umbilical vein endothelial cells activated by LPS.…”

Effects of lighting mode on the growth performance, cortisol level and oxidative stress of juvenile Chinese three-keeled pond turtle (Chinemys reevesii)

“…It is affected by water depth and turbidity, resulting in different light intensities and spectrums. The impact of varying light intensities and spectrums on aquatic animals was discussed previously [7,10,12,35] . However, to our knowledge, little was reported Figure 2 Effects of lighting mode on the antioxidant enzyme activities in three-keeled pond turtles at the end of the experiment about the effects of lighting mode on Chinemys reevesii.…”

Gut microbiota in homologous Chinese soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) under different habitats

“…Furthermore, the high energy consumption rearing patterns are not conducive to agricultural sustainable development and have aroused increasing public concerns [4,5]. Intensive breeding is inclined to cause diseases as bacterial infection and esoenteritis due to crowed living space, super uous but simplex feeds [6][7][8]. Consequently, antimicrobial resistant bacteria and/or antiseptic medicines have been abused [9,10], thus leading to more serious environmental and health problems that affecting both the quality of product and animal welfare [11][12][13].…”