Dietary supplementation of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with β-glucan and/or Bacillus coagulans: Synergistic impacts on performance, immune responses, redox status and expression of some related genes

Ahmed F Fath El-Bab; Kamlah A Majrashi; Huda M Sheikh; Manal E Shafi; Ibrahim T El-Ratel; Ahmed N F Neamat-Allah; Ali A El-Raghi; Amar Y Abd Elazem; Mohamed F Abd-Elghany; Sameh A Abdelnour; Maisa S Abduh; Mariusz Jaremko; Mohammed A E Naiel

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.1011715

Dietary supplementation of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with β-glucan and/or Bacillus coagulans: Synergistic impacts on performance, immune responses, redox status and expression of some related genes

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Sep 23:9:1011715. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1011715. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Damietta University, Damietta, Egypt.
² Biological Sciences Department, College of Science & Arts, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Zoology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Damietta University, Damietta, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Smart-Health Initiative and Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

A 14-week feeding study was conducted to assess the effects of feed supplementation with prebiotics β-glucan (BG group) and/or probiotics Bacillus coagulans (BC group) on O. niloticus growth performance, body analysis, intestinal structure, immunological response, and antioxidant status. The fish were equally divided into six groups, as follows: the fish group fed an un-supplemented diet served as a control group; the other fish groups were fed supplemented diets with 0.1 g β-glucan kg^-1; 1 g Bacillus coagulans kg^-1; 2 g B. coagulans kg^-1; 0.1 g β-glucan combined with 1 g B. coagulans kg^-1; 0.1 g β-glucan combined with 2 g B. coagulans kg^-1. The findings revealed that supplementing B. coagulans and the β-glucan mixture improved growth performance and feed efficiency parameters (RGR and SGR) more than the other groups. The fish flesh analysis revealed increased crude protein and dry matter content and lower lipid and ash levels in the BG and BC supplemented groups than in the Control group. On the other hand, β-glucan and B. coagulans supplementation significantly boosted antioxidant activity and immunological responses in serum as determined by CAT, MDA, lysozyme, and phagocytic activity. Dietary β-glucan and B. coagulans supplementation remarkedly enhanced anterior intestine villus histomorphometry characteristics. Furthermore, B. coagulans, alone or in combination with β-glucan, could reduce HSP70 and IL-1β gene expression while increasing IL-8 and GH gene expression. According to the findings, B. coagulans and/or BG increased growth performance by increasing gut health and morphology. Furthermore, β-glucan and B. coagulans supplementation enhanced Tilapia's body composition, immunological responses, and antioxidant status.

Keywords: Bacillus coagulans; growth; immunity; prebiotic; tilapia.