article · Animals
Exposure to the waterborne herbicide atrazine harms the growth, survival, and physiological health of Nile tilapia. Adding fucoidan to fish feed significantly counteracts these adverse impacts over a 40-day period. Fish exposed to atrazine suffered from reduced growth rates, poor feed conversion ratios, intestinal tissue damage, altered liver and kidney enzyme levels, and oxidative stress. Feeding fish a diet supplemented with fucoidan markedly improved their growth rate, feed conversion, and survival, whilst also enhancing the structure and branching of intestinal villi. Furthermore, fucoidan restored critical blood parameters, including red and white blood cell counts, improved liver and kidney function markers, and lowered stress indicators such as cortisol and glucose. Overall, fucoidan protected Nile tilapia from the toxic effects of herbicide exposure.
Agricultural runoff introduces herbicides like atrazine into aquatic ecosystems, threatening fish health and farm productivity. Demonstrating that a dietary supplement such as fucoidan protects farmed Nile tilapia against chemical pollution offers a practical way to safeguard fish welfare, reduce mortality, and maintain sustainable food production in environments affected by waterborne toxins.
This work indicates a potential application for aquafeed manufacturers and fish farmers seeking dietary additives to protect stock against agricultural chemical runoff. Fucoidan functions as a protective ingredient that improves growth, feed efficiency, and stress resistance. Tested in a 40-day controlled trial on 180 fish, the research sits at an applied, laboratory testing stage and requires broader commercial-scale trials before real-world adoption.
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Waterborne herbicides are stressful agents that threaten the productivity and safety of finfish species. In this study, the toxicity impacts of atrazine (ATZ) and the protective role of fucoidan were investigated on the health performance of Nile tilapia. For 40 days, the total number of 180 Nile tilapia was assigned in four groups (triplicates, 15 fish/replicate), where the first (control) and third groups were offered the control diet, while the second and fourth groups were offered a fucoidan (FCN). Further, in the third and fourth groups, the water was mixed with atrazine (ATZ) at 1.39 mg/L daily. The growth rate, FCR, and survival rate were markedly enhanced by fucoidan but severely declined by ATZ exposure (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The morphological structure of the intestine in the control fish revealed normal structure, while fucoidan-treated groups showed eminent enhancement and branching of the intestinal villi. The intestine of ATZ-treated fish revealed deterioration and the intestinal mucosa, inflammatory cell infiltration, and separation of lining epithelium. The highest Hb, PCV, RBCs, WBCs, total protein, and albumin were observed in Nile tilapia fed fucoidan, but the worst values were seen in ATZ-intoxicated fish (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The liver-related enzymes (ALT and AST) and kidney function (urea and creatinine) showed impaired values by ATZ toxicity and were regulated by dietary fucoidan. Meanwhile, fish fed fucoidan and exposed to ATZ had lower total cholesterol and triglyceride values than fish exposed to ATZ without fucoidan feeding (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The SOD, CAT, GPx, cortisol, and glucose levels were increased in ATZ-exposed fish and reduced by fucoidan (<i>p</i> < 0.05). However, the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) was reduced in fucoidan-fed fish and increased in ATZ-exposed fish (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Altogether, dietary fucoidan is required in fish diets to alleviate the impacts of ATZ-induced toxicity.
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DOI: 10.3390/ani11051448
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