article · Frontiers in Veterinary Science
This research evaluates the effects of adding Moringa oleifera leaf powder to the feed of mono-sex Nile tilapia fingerlings over a six-week period. Fish received diets containing zero, five, or ten percent leaf powder before being challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria or injected with a control saline solution. In healthy fish, dietary inclusion of the leaf powder strengthened innate immunity, raising phagocytic and lysozyme activity, altering circulating white blood cells, and upregulating antioxidant and proinflammatory cytokine gene expression. Following bacterial infection, the leaf powder produced a protective anti-inflammatory effect. It downregulated cytokine and antioxidant gene levels, reduced tissue leukocyte infiltration, and mitigated degenerative damage to intestinal tissue. These results demonstrate that Moringa oleifera leaves can bolster baseline fish immune defences while mitigating harmful inflammatory and tissue damage during subsequent bacterial infections.
Bacterial infections such as Aeromonas hydrophila present significant health challenges in commercial fish farming. Identifying functional feed ingredients that naturally boost baseline immunity and alleviate severe inflammation can support fish welfare and gut integrity. Using botanical additives like Moringa oleifera offers an accessible dietary strategy to support disease resistance in farmed tilapia.
This work demonstrates an applied, experimental feeding strategy relevant to aquaculture feed manufacturers and tilapia farmers seeking functional dietary additives. The findings show that Moringa oleifera leaf powder can be incorporated at five to ten percent levels to enhance fish resilience against Aeromonas hydrophila. As a controlled trial on fingerlings, the research represents early-stage to applied testing, requiring field-level validation and economic assessment before routine commercial adoption in fish feeds.
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This study aimed to detect the impact of <i>Moringa oleifera</i> leaf powder dietary inclusion on the antioxidant and innate immune responses of mono-sex Nile tilapia fingerlings. A total of 180 fingerlings were allocated in a random method into three groups with triplicate each. One group (1<sup>st</sup> group) received the control diet (basal diet (BD) free of moringa) and the other groups (2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup>) fed BD containing <i>M. oleifera</i> leaf powder at 5 and 10% of the diet, respectively. After 6 weeks of feeding, fish were randomly redistributed into four replicates and rested for 24 h. Then, each fish in the first two replicates was injected with 0.2 mL of PBS, while the others were injected with 0.2 mL of <i>A. hydrophila</i> suspension (1.8 × 10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL). Healthy fish fed on <i>M. oleifera</i> leaf powder showed enhanced immune response manifested by significant increases in phagocytic and lysozyme activities with a marked H/L ratio (<i>P</i> < 0.05). In addition, significant alterations of the lymphocytic and heterophilic population in circulation with increasing infiltration in tissue such as the spleen were noticed. Also, <i>M. oleifera</i> significantly upregulated the antioxidants, <i>CAT</i> and <i>GPx</i>, proinflammatory cytokines, <i>IL1-</i>β<i>, IL-8</i>, and <i>IFN-</i>γ relative mRNA levels. On the other hand, following <i>A. hydrophila</i> challenging conditions<i>, M. oleifera</i> caused downregulations of <i>IL1-</i>β<i>, IL-8</i>, and <i>IFN-</i>γ transcription levels, and also lowered the <i>CAT</i> and <i>GPx</i> mRNA levels. In addition, a marked reduction of leukocytic infiltration plus a significant improvement of the degenerative changes in intestinal architecture has occurred. So, <i>M. oleifera</i> leaf powder can be included in the fish diet to enhance immune response under normal health conditions and lower the infection-associated inflammatory response.
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DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.918933
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