The Gene Regulatory Roles of Herbal Extracts on the Growth, Immune System, and Reproduction of Fish

Abstract

The crucial need for safe and healthy aquatic animals obligates researchers in aquaculture to investigate alternative and beneficial additives. Medicinal herbals and their extracts are compromised with diverse effects on the performances of aquatic animals. These compounds can affect growth performance and stimulate the immune system when used in fish diet. In addition, the use of medicinal herbs and their extracts can reduce oxidative stress induced by several stressors during fish culture. Correspondingly, aquatic animals could gain increased resistance against infectious pathogens and environmental stressors. Nevertheless, the exact mode of action where these additives can affect aquatic animals’ performances is still not well documented. Understanding the mechanistic role of herbal supplements and their derivatives is a vital tool to develop further the strategies and application of these additives for feasible and sustainable aquaculture. Gene-related studies have clarified the detailed information on the herbal supplements’ mode of action when administered orally in aquafeed. Several review articles have presented the potential roles of medicinal herbs on the performances of aquatic animals. However, this review article discusses the outputs of studies conducted on aquatic animals fed dietary, medicinal herbs, focusing on the gene expression related to growth and immune performances. Furthermore, a particular focus is directed to the expected influence of herbal supplements on the reproduction of aquatic animals.

Dietary oak ( Quercus brantii ) acorn extract affects growth performance, survival rate, haemolymph parameters, and body composition of narrow‐clawed crayfish ( Pontastacus leptodactylus )

“…Immunostimulants such as herbal extracts are considered as the potential alternative to antibiotics in aquatic species (Hoseinifar et al, 2020;Vaseeharan & Thaya, 2014). It has been revealed that herbal extracts not only enhance the immune system, but also induce digestive enzymes activity and increase the growth rate (Ahmadifar et al, 2021;Raissy et al, 2022) In the present study, dietary acorn extract affected growth, survival, haemolymph biochemistry, and proximate composition of P. leptodactylus.…”

Effects of caffeic acid on the growth performance, growth genes, digestive enzyme activity, and serum immune parameters of beluga (Huso huso)

“…The enhanced growth performance in beluga-fed dietary caffeic acid can also be related to the upregulated growth-related genes (Ahmadifar, Fallah, et al, 2021). The release of GH is involved in several metabolic functions, including protein synthesis, cellular RNA formation, and amino acids uptake (Triantaphyllopoulos et al, 2020).…”

“…Polyphenols can also show high potential as immunomodulators by activating immune-related genes, cytokines, antibodies, and metabolites (Ahmadifar, Fallah, et al, 2021). Consequently, high resistance to infection and farming stressors results from polyphenols supplementation (Alagawany et al, 2021).…”

The Synergistic Effects of Combined Use of Mentha longifolia, Thymus carmanicus, and Trachyspermum copticum on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, and Expression of Key Immune Genes in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

“…Phytochemicals from medicinal plants have been found to modulate the expression of several genes in fish, which has been reviewed recently by Ahmadifar et al (48). IL-1β is a pro-inflammatory gene released from white blood cells (WBCs), attracting other WBCs and initiating an inflammatory response.…”