Enrichment of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fingerlings diet with microbial lysozyme: Effects on growth performance, serum and skin mucus immune parameters

Abstract

A two-month study was conducted to determine the influence of different levels of microbial lysozyme (LZ) contents (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g kg^-1 of diet) on growth performance, serum and skin mucus immune parameters as well as intestinal immune-related genes expression in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss fingerlings (5.5 ± 0.1 g). Growth performance and feed utilization were not affected significantly by dietary LZ. Fish fed LZ-supplemented diets had higher serum total immunoglobulins concentration than the control group. In addition, fish fed 1.5 g LZ kg^-1 diet had the highest skin mucosal total protein and immunoglobulin contents compared to other experimental groups. Furthermore, skin mucosal lysozyme and alkaline phosphatase activities as well as intestinal tumor necrosis factor-α and interlukine-1β relative genes expression were higher in fish fed 1.0 and 1.5 g LZ kg^-1 diets than the other groups. Overall, the present results clearly showed that LZ powder can be considered as a potential immunostimulant in O. mykiss fingerlings, but in the long term period it may result in negative effects on intestinal health as a consequence of inducing pro-inflammatory cytokines gene expression in the intestine.

Keywords: Immune-related gene expression; Microbial lysozyme; Rainbow trout; Skin mucosal immunity.