Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Chlorella vulgaris on Liver Biomarkers and Lipid Profile on Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

Clarias gariepinus is an important commercial fish species in Nigeria and is widely cultivated by many farmers. This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Chlorella vulgaris on liver biomarkers and lipid profiles in Clarias gariepinus over 12 weeks. Five groups of fish were used in the study; one group served as the control, while the other four groups were fed different concentrations of the algae at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. At the end of the feeding trial, the fish were anesthetized using clove oil, and blood samples were collected for analysis. The results indicated that the supplementation of C. vulgaris in the diets of C. gariepinus led to higher protein percentages (ranging from 43.0% to 47.3%) and lower levels of AST (230.0) and ALT (54.0) in the algae-fed groups compared to the control group, which had a protein percentage of 39.67, AST levels of 497.3, and ALT levels of 180.7. Additionally, the lipid profiles showed that the treated groups had better outcomes than the control group. The findings revealed significant variations in the fish's serum biochemical parameters and lipid profiles across the different treatments. Therefore, this study highlights the positive impact of microalgae as a physiological booster in C. gariepinus.