Dried lemon peel enriched diet improves antioxidant activity, immune response and modulates immuno-antioxidant genes in Labeo rohita against Aeromonas sorbia.

The effect of diet enriched with dried lemon (Citrus limon) peel was fed to Labeo rohita at three different levels (0, 1, 2.5, and 5 g kg-1) for a period of 60 days; the impact of the diet on the hematology, antioxidant activity and immunological reaction and gene expression against Aeromonas sorbia is reported. In both un-challenged and challenged groups treated with 2.5 g and 5 g kg-1 dried lemon peel diets, the enhanced significant changes are: the weight gain and specific growth rate, white blood cell and total protein content, the antioxidants: superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione activities, the respiratory burst, alternative complement pathway, complement C3, and total immunoglobulin M levels. Similarly, the heat shock protein-70 and -90, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione, interleukin-1β and -8, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, transforming growth factor beta, and immunoglobulin M were up-regulated significantly. Any dried lemon peel enriched diet increased the phagocytic and lysozyme activities significantly in both groups. In the un-challenged group treated with 0 g kg-1 diet or in both groups treated with 2.5 g kg-1 diet the SR was 100%. These results indicate that in both un-challenged and challenged-treated groups the 2.5 and 5 g kg-1 dried lemon peel enriched diets positively modulate growth rate, physiology, and antioxidant status, innate-adaptive immune response as well as antioxidant and immune related gene expression in L. rohita against A. sorbia.