Dietary astaxanthin modulated the performance, gastrointestinal histology, and antioxidant and immune responses and enhanced the resistance of Litopenaeus vannamei against Vibrio harveyi infection

Abstract

Astaxanthin (AX) is one of the commonly used feed supplements to enhance the growth performance and provide antioxidant and immune functions of several aquatic animals. In the current study, juveniles of white-leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) with mean initial weight of 0.340 ± 0.041 g were fed with diets supplemented with 0 (control), 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg feed for 8 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, shrimps were exposed to Vibrio harveyi, and their mortality rates were observed for additional 10 days. The growth indices in the AX-fed groups were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than what were observed in shrimps in the control group. Dietary AX stimulated the final weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate and optimum growth levels were achieved at 100–200 mg AX/kg feed. Furthermore, the AX-enriched diets significantly enhanced feed intake more than the control diet, and the amount of AX had no effects on feed conversion ratios. In comparison to the control group, the AX-fed animals had significantly (P < 0.05) higher villi length, villi width, and absorption area and their optimum values were observed at 100–200 mg AX/kg feed treatments. Moreover, the intestinal morphometry especially villi and its crypt, both internal and external tunica muscularis, and submucosal tissues did not show any inflammatory and/or degenerative changes in AX-fed shrimp. Furthermore, the dietary AX at escalating levels linearly and quadratically enhanced (P < 0.05) the activities of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and increased levels of total antioxidant capacity and reduced glutathione. In addition, malondialdehyde levels decreased significantly in AX-fed animals, and the highest levels were observed in the control group (without AX). The expression levels of cMn-SOD, CAT, and GPx genes were significantly upregulated in the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei fed with AX-enriched diets (especially in the 200-mg/kg feed treatment) as compared with the control diet. The immunity indices of the AX treatments (hematocyte count, total protein, lysozyme, phagocytic activity, and phenoloxidase) of L. vannamei were linearly (P < 0.05) and quadratically (P < 0.05) increased. This study revealed the antibacterial activity of AX against V. harveyi abundance. After the bacterial challenge, feeding L. vannamei with dietary AX significantly increased (P < 0.05) the relative percentage of survival, especially in the treatment of 200-mg/kg diet (82.7%). The findings of the current study demonstrate that dietary AX (100–200 mg/kg feed) was effective in enhancing the growth, antioxidant status, immune response, and increasing the resistance of L. vannamei against V. harveyi infection.

Improving red-color performance, immune response and resistance to Vibrio parahaemolyticus on white shrimp Penaeus vannamei by an engineered astaxanthin yeast

“…SOD and GPx upregulation started on day 7 and peaked on day 14 in the shrimp that received the AST-supplemented feeds compared with those that received the control feed indicating the ability to scavenge superoxide anion was improved after feeding with AST supplement 24 . Eldessouki et al also showed that the dietary AST enhanced ( P < 0.05) the activities of serum SOD, catalase, GPx, and increased levels of total antioxidant capacity especially in the 200 mg AST/kg feed treatment in L. vannamei 7 . In our result, different sources of AST can increase the immune response, but only K. marxianus derived 3S, 3’S-AST can increase more antioxidant ability.…”

“…Wang et al showed that fed L. vannamei with 80 mg/kg astaxanthin supplemented diet for 4 weeks significantly affects the serum PO activity compared to the control 24 . Feeding L. vannamei with distinct AST-containing diets including 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg diet for 8 weeks was associated with significant increases in the PO value 7 . The results of our in vivo assay indicated that the AST-supplemented feeds resulted in a significantly high PR on days 7 and 14 compared with the control feed ( p < 0.05).…”

“…Shrimp innate immunity also can be modulated by treating AST via enhancing immune responses including hematocyte count, lysozyme, phagocytic activity, and phenoloxidase, etc. 7 . AST has been commercially produced through extraction from crustaceans, chemical synthesis, and microbial synthesis.…”

Dietary astaxanthin mitigated paraquat‐induced oxidative stress in rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) fillet

“…Indeed, dietary astaxanthin protects the intestinal mucosal layer and the integration of intestinal villi in aquatic animals. For example, feeding astaxanthin could improve the villi length and width, as well as the total absorption surface, of the gastrointestinal tract in Litopenaeus vannamei (Eldessouki et al, 2022). Moreover, astaxanthin tended to enhance the bacterial diversity in fish intestines by increasing beneficial bacteria and reducing the pathogenic ones (Niu et al, 2020).…”

Biological Extraction, HPLC Quantification and Medical Applications of Astaxanthin Extracted from Crawfish “Procambarus clarkii” Exoskeleton By-Product

“…It is also used as a natural pigment, so this critical pigment can be extracted from algae, yeast, and crustacean by-products which is our target [ 8 ]. It is a typical feed supplement used to boost growth and offer antioxidant and immunological benefits in a variety of aquatic animals [ 9 ]. Biological ensilation of shrimp wastes using lactic acid bacteria not only recovers astaxanthin but also enhances the proteins and chitin content in the fermented wastes while preserving astaxanthin’s chemical structure and biomedical capabilities [ 10 ].…”