Elsevier

Fish & Shellfish Immunology

Volume 131, December 2022, Pages 891-897
Fish & Shellfish Immunology

Full length article
Bovine lactoferricin on non-specific immunity of giant freshwater prawns, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2022.11.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Bovine lactoferricin improved the immune responses of Macrobrachium rosenbergii.

  • High doses of LFcinB were more effective in improving the immunity of prawns.

  • LFcinB promoted the expression of the mTOR signaling pathway.

  • High doses of LFcinB improved the resistance of prawns against V. parahaemolyticus.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Bovine lactoferricin (LFcinB) on the growth performance and non-specific immunity in Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Five experimental diets were 1.0‰ Bovine lactoferricin (LCB1); 1.5‰ Bovine lactoferricin (LCB1.5); 2.0‰ Bovine lactoferricin (LCB2); 2.5‰ Bovine lactoferricin (LCB2.5); the control group, basal diet without Bovine lactoferricin. A total of 600 prawns were randomly assigned to 5 groups in triplicate in 15 tanks for an 8-week feeding trial. The results showed the final weight, weight gain rate, specific growth rate and survival rate of prawns in the treatment groups were significantly improved versus the control (P < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio was reduced significantly in treatment groups compared to the control (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, alkaline phosphatase (AKP), acid phosphatase (ACP), lysozyme (LZM), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the hepatopancreas of the treatment groups were significantly enhanced, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content was reduced significantly (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, the relative expression levels of AKP, ACP, LZM, CAT, SOD, Hsp70, peroxiredoxin-5, Toll, dorsal and relish genes were significantly higher among treatment groups, except for the AKP gene in the LCB1 group and the Hsp70 gene in the LCB1.5 group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, the relative expression levels of TOR, 4E-BP, eIF4E1α and eIF4E2 genes were significantly enhanced in the LCB1.5 group (P < 0.05). When resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus in prawn is considered, higher doses of Bovine lactoferricin show better antibacterial ability. The present study indicated that dietary Bovine lactoferricin could significantly improve the growth performance and improve the antioxidative status of M. rosenbergii. The suitable addition level is 1.5 g/kg. LFcinB has great potential as a new feed additive without the threat of drug resistance.

Introduction

Lactoferrin (LF) was first isolated from bovine milk in l960 [1]. It is a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of 70–80 kD. LF is found in a variety of secretory fluids, including milk, saliva, tears and semen, from a variety of mammals, including humans. Interestingly, LF has inhibitory effect against bacteria [2], viruses [3], fungi [4], and cancer cells [5]. In addition, it also affects proliferation [6], migration, and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine [7].

Bovine lactoferricin (LFcinB) is a small peptide of 25 amino acids (aa), derived from the protein bovine LF (bLF). LFcinB has also been found to confer 400 times stronger antimicrobial activity than in bLF [8]. Its activity was confirmed effective against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria [9], such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and Bifidobacterium. LFcinB also has antiviral activity [1]. Lactoferrin destroys bacterial cells by binding to the bacterial cell wall through its N-terminal region [10], and LfcinB interacts with viral receptors or co-receptors on the cell surface, reducing the infection rate. Additionally, LFcinB has an apoptosis-inducing effect on tumor cells. As a cationic antimicrobial peptide, it initiates the apoptotic pathway and ultimately apoptosis by binding to the net negatively charged phosphatidylserine exposed by tumor cells and the asymmetry caused by the loss of the phospholipid head component of the tumor cell plasma membrane [11].

The giant freshwater prawn from the Indo-Pacific region, Macrobrachium rosenbergii is an important food source in Asia's tropical regions, both for internal use and export [12,13]. With the development of intensive aquaculture, high stocking density and excessive feed might cause severe prawn diseases [14,15]. Over the last couple of decades, several diseases caused catastrophic devastation in the shrimp aquaculture [16,17]. Currently, antibiotics are banned globally to avoid the risk of drug resistance [18], Therefore, aquaculture industry needs to find new antimicrobial additives [19]. LFcinB has great potential as a new feed additive without the threat of drug resistance.

Section snippets

Experimental animals

Healthy juvenile prawns were obtained from Zhejiang Hangzhou Tiao wang Biological Technology Co. Ltd. (Hangzhou, China), and belong to the same batch of the same family. Prior to the experiment, the prawns were given 14-day acclimatization adjust to the experimental facilities and settings. During acclimation, prawns were fed daily with a ratio of 5% of body weight using the basic feed was as shown in Table 1. After acclimatization and being fasted for 24 h, prawns with an average weight of

Growth performance and survival

The WGR of prawns in the treatment groups was all significantly higher than those in the control (P < 0.05), however, no significant difference was found among the four treatment groups (P > 0.05). The SGR of prawns in the LCB1.5 was the highest and the treatment groups was all significantly higher than the control (P < 0.05). The SR of prawns in the LCB1.5, LCB2, and LCB2.5 groups were significantly higher than the control (P < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio of the four treatment groups were

Discussion

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are significant humoral immune effectors in crustaceans. They control and kill pathogens while also influence other immune responses [24]. LfcinB, as a feed additive, has been extensively used and studied in livestock farming. However, only a few investigations into its application to aquatic species have been conducted thus far. In this study, dietary LfcinB could improve the growth performance, survival rate and feed efficiency of M. rosenbergii. With a higher

Conclusion

Dietary LFcinB significantly improved the growth performance and survival rate of M. rosenbergii. Interestingly, the expression levels of immune-related genes in prawns increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner, while the expression of growth-related genes (mTOR signaling pathway) tended to increase and then decrease. Furthermore, high doses of LFcinB exhibit better antibacterial activity. Therefore, under the present experimental conditions, the optimum addition of LFcinB is 1.5 g/kg.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Yi Zhuang: conducted the experiments, conducted the data analyses, Data curation, Formal analysis, wrote the manuscript, Writing – original draft. Qi Li: conducted the experiments. Cong Cao: conducted the experiments. Xiang-Shan Tang: supervised the project, Supervision, Project administration. Nu-An Wang: finalized the manuscript. Kun Yuan: designed the experiments. Guo-Fang Zhong: supervised the project, Supervision, Project administration, designed the experiments, conducted the data

Declaration of competing interest

No conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Study on the application of bovine lactoferricin in aquatic feed (ZXNRT20200720 SC).

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