Impacts of Enriching Growing Rabbit Diets with Chlorella vulgaris Microalgae on Growth, Blood Variables, Carcass Traits, Immunological and Antioxidant Indices

Abstract

This work aimed to explore the effects of dietary supplementation of Chlorella vulgaris (CLV) on the growth performance, carcass traits, hematobiochemical variables, immunity responses, and the antioxidant status of growing rabbits. A total number of 100 rabbits were randomly distributed into four treatment groups, each of five replicates (25 rabbits/group). The experimental groups were as follows; control: a basal diet without supplementation, CLV0.5: basal diet + 0.5 g chlorella powder/kg diet; CLV1.0: basal diet + 1.0 g chlorella powder/kg diet, CLV1.5: basal diet + 1.5 g chlorella powder/kg diet. Live body weight (LBW), cumulative body weight gain (CBWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected by dietary CLV supplementation. Platelet count (PLT), hematocrit (HCT), means corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values were significantly increased in the CLV0.5 group compared with the other treatment groups. Dietary supplementation of CLV (1.5 g/kg diet) significantly reduced the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity. The concentrations of serum triglycerides and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) were lower (p < 0.05) in the CLV-treated groups than those of the control. Supplemental CLV at all experimental levels gave the best values of immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) and glutathione activities. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were lower in the animals that received CLV in their diet than those of the control group. Dietary supplementation of 1.0 g CLV/kg had the potential to enhance immune responses and antioxidant status, as well as reduce blood lipid accumulation. Therefore, it could be concluded that CLV supplementation to growing rabbit diets can improve the health status.