Protective effects of butyric acid during heat stress on the survival, immune response, histopathology, and gene expression in the hepatopancreas of juvenile pacific shrimp (L. Vannamei)

Mpwaga Alatwinusa Yohana; Gyan Watson Ray; Qihui Yang; Shiyu Kou; Beiping Tan; Jiahua Wu; Minling Mao; Zhan Bo Ge; Lan Feng

doi:10.1016/j.fsi.2024.109610

Protective effects of butyric acid during heat stress on the survival, immune response, histopathology, and gene expression in the hepatopancreas of juvenile pacific shrimp (L. Vannamei)

Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2024 May 9:150:109610. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2024.109610. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mpwaga Alatwinusa Yohana¹, Gyan Watson Ray¹, Qihui Yang², Shiyu Kou¹, Beiping Tan¹, Jiahua Wu¹, Minling Mao¹, Zhan Bo Ge¹, Lan Feng¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China; Aquatic Animals Precision Nutrition and High Efficiency Feed Engineering Research Center of Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy Culture, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China.
² College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China; Aquatic Animals Precision Nutrition and High Efficiency Feed Engineering Research Center of Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy Culture, Zhanjiang, 524088, PR China. Electronic address: qihuiyang03@163.com.

PMID: 38734117
DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2024.109610

Abstract

This study looked at the effects of adding butyric acid (BA) to the diets of juvenile Pacific shrimp and how it affected their response to survival, immunity, histopathological, and gene expression profiles under heat stress. The shrimp were divided into groups: a control group with no BA supplementation and groups with BA inclusion levels of 0.5 %, 1 %, 1.5 %, 2 %, and 2.5 %. Following the 8-week feeding trial period, the shrimp endured a heat stress test lasting 1 h at a temperature of 38 °C. The results showed that the control group had a lower survival rate than those given BA. Interestingly, no mortality was observed in the group receiving 1.5 % BA supplementation. Heat stress had a negative impact on the activities of alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) in the control group. Still, these activities were increased in shrimp fed the BA diet. Similar variations were observed in AST and ALT fluctuations among the different groups. The levels of triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol (CHO) increased with high temperatures but were reduced in shrimp-supplemented BA. The activity of an antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased with higher BA levels (P < 0.05). Moreover, the groups supplemented with 1.5 % BA exhibited a significant reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) content (P < 0.05), suggesting the potential antioxidant properties of BA. The histology of the shrimp's hepatopancreas showed improvements in the groups given BA. Conversely, the BA significantly down-regulated the HSPs and up-regulated MnSOD transcript level in response to heat stress. The measured parameters determine the essential dietary requirement of BA for shrimp. Based on the results, the optimal level of BA for survival, antioxidant function, and immunity for shrimp under heat stress is 1.5 %.

Keywords: Butyric acid; Heat stress; Immunity response; Pacific shrimp; Survival.