ADAPTIVE RESPONSE OF STOMACH TISSUES OF AFRICAN CATFISH TO MICROBIOTA WITH PROBIOTIC PROPERTIES

Abstract

The article presents specific features of adaptive response of stomach tissues of African sharptooth catfish bred in artificial environment with application of “Sporothermin” probiotic. Probiotics influence metabolism of the host organism due to their participation in digestion processes, they also promote synthesis of proteins and increase the degree of absorption. The microorganisms that compose the probiotic contribute to better assimilation of incoming nutrients into the fish organism, they synthesize biologically active substances due to their fermentation activity. Histological slides were analyzed and documented applying a universal microscope Axio Imager.M2. Differences were found in structural features of the stomach of fish bred with application of “Sporothermin” probiotic and without it. Thus, fish that did not receive the probiotic had edema of the stomach inner muscular layer, epithelial layer detachment from the gastric mucosa and disorder of structural organization of the gastric fields. These changes were not observed in fish bred with application of “Sporothermine” probiotic. The conducted studies indicate the prospects of using the microbiota with probiotic properties when breeding Clarias gariepinus in an artificial environment. The spore forms of bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis), which are part of the probiotic “Sporothermin”, contribute to improvement of microbiocenosis of fish gastrointestinal tract, triggering a mechanism that stimulates a complex of adaptive reactions in stomach tissues of Clarias gariepinus. At the same time, conditionally pathogenic and pathogenic microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract is suppressed, ensuring effective digestion and increasing the degree of nutrient absorption. As a result, the productivity of the fish stock increases and the costs of breeding it in an artificial environment are reduced.