Effects of extended dietary supplementation with Santalum album essential oil on hemato-biochemical changes, innate immune response, antioxidant status, and expression of related gene in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

• Published in: Fish physiology and biochemistry 2024-06, Vol.50 (3), p.955-971
• Main Authors: Mansour, Abdallah Tageldein, Arisha, Ahmed H., Abdelaziz, Rewan, Alwutayd, Khairiah Mubarak, Van Doan, Hien, El-Murr, Abd Elhakeem, El-Houseiny, Walaa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Anatomy; Animal Biochemistry; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Physiology; Animals; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Apoptosis; Bacterial diseases; Biomarkers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blood levels; blood proteins; blood serum; Caspase-3; Cholesterol; Cichlids - genetics; Cichlids - immunology; Cichlids - metabolism; cortisol; Creatinine; Defence mechanisms; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; Essential oils; Fish; Fish Diseases - immunology; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Genes; glucose; Histology; Hormones; Hsp70 protein; Immune response; Immune status; Immune system; Immunity, Innate - drug effects; Inflammation; Innate immunity; interleukin-10; interleukin-8; Interleukins; Life Sciences; Liver; Lysozyme; Marine fishes; Morphology; Nitric oxide; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - administration & dosage; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Oreochromis niloticus; Oxidants; Oxidizing agents; Phagocytes; phagocytosis; Santalum album; Serum; Spleen; Staphylococcal Infections - veterinary; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Tilapia; TLR2 protein; Toll-like receptors; Transaminase; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Urea; Whitefish; Zoology
• ISSN: 0920-1742; 1573-5168; 1573-5168
• DOI: 10.1007/s10695-024-01309-6

The effects of long-term dietary supplementation with sandalwood ( Santalum album L.) essential oil (SEO) was investigated on hemato-biochemical biomarkers, immune status, antioxidant capacity, and resistance against Staphylococcus aureus in Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ). Five groups (with four replicates) of O. niloticus (12.60 ± 0.20 g) were fed diets supplemented with SEO at doses of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 mL/kg diet for 60 days. Results indicated a substantial increase in blood protein levels and lower serum cholesterol, cortisol, glucose, urea, creatinine levels and, transaminase activities of fish fed a 2.0-mL SEO/kg diet. Serum lysozyme activity, nitric oxide, complement-3 levels, and phagocytic activity were significantly improved in O. niloticus after 60 days of feeding SEO-supplemented diets. Dietary SEO at level of 2.0-mL SEO/kg diet increased the activities of SOD, CAT, and GPx, and decreased MDA levels in liver homogenate. In addition, dietary 2.0-mL SEO/kg diet significantly upregulated antioxidant genes expression ( CAT , SOD , GPx, GST , and GSR ) with downregulation of apoptotic genes ( HSP70 , TLR2 , caspase-3 , and PCNA ) in the liver. Furthermore, SEO-enriched diets significantly down-regulated pro-inflammatory ( TNF-α , IL-1β , and IL-8 ) and up-regulated anti-inflammatory cytokine genes ( TFG-β and IL-10 ) in the spleen. Moreover, SEO fortification increased the relative percentage of survival against S. aureus challenge and regulated immune-antioxidant genes in the spleen after the challenge. Overall, the results revealed that long-term using SEO might strengthen the physiological performance, hepatic oxidant/antioxidant balance, innate immune response, and resistance of O. niloticus against bacterial infections.