Dietary effect of ferulic acid on growth performance, physiological response, non-specific immunity and disease resistance of oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense)

Abstract

To explore the effect of ferulic acid (FA) on growth and nonspecific immunity of Macrobrachium nipponense, six experimental diets were supplemented with 0 (FA0), 20 mg/kg (FA20), 40 mg/Kg (FA40), 80 mg/kg (FA80) 160 mg/kg (FA160), 320 mg/kg (FA320) ferulic acid, respectively. M. nipponense (initial weight: 0.140 ± 0.015 g) was randomly assigned into 6 groups with 6 replicates for 10 weeks. The results showed that the weight gain rate (WGR) and specific growth rate (SGR) of FA80 and FA160 were significantly higher than those of the control group, and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of FA80, FA160, and FA320 group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Compared with the control group, the albumin/globulin ratio (A/G) of FA160 and FA320 group, and the complement 3 (C3) of all the treat groups was significantly increased. The glucose (GLU) of FA40 was significantly higher than that of other groups. Compared with the control group, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the FA80 and FA160 group were significantly reduced, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the FA160 group and the glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in the FA80 and FA160 groups were significantly increased. The FA160 group significantly down-regulated the expression of Toll and Dorsal, immune deficiency (IMD). Relish of the FA80 and FA160 group was significantly down-regulated, and heat shock protein (HSP70) of the FA40, FA80 and FA160 group was significantly down-regulated compared with the control. Results of the infection test showed that FA160 group enhanced resistance against non-O1 Vibrio cholera GXFL1-X infection in M. nipponense. In conclusion, we performed a polynomial comparison with WGR, SGR, and FCR and obtained the optimal amount of FA with 163.99–183.33 mg/kg, which could significantly improve the growth, non-specific immunity and disease resistance of M. nipponense.