Immune response and disease resistance of carotenoids supplementation diet in Cyprinus carpio against Aeromonas hydrophila

The effect of carotenoid-supplementation diet on immune response and disease resistance in common carp, Cyprinus carpio against Aeromonas hydrophila at weeks 1, 2, and 4 is reported. The cumulative mortality was 10% when fish were fed with 50 or 100 mg kg(-1) supplementation diets while the un-supplementation diet treated group suffered 90% mortality against the pathogen. The phagocytic activity and complement activity significantly increased with 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) diet groups from weeks 2 and 4 but not in other groups. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was significantly enhanced with 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) diets from weeks 1 to 4 while the production of reactive nitrogen species (RNS) enhanced on weeks 2 and 4. The lysozyme activity significantly increased when fed with 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) diets on weeks 2 and all supplementation diets on week 4. These results suggest that diet enriched with carotenoid pigment positively enhance the immune status and protects C. carpio from A. hydrophila infection. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.