Immunity and Overall Tissue Health of Stinging Catfish, <i>Heteropneustes fossilis</i> (Bloch, 1794) in Curcumin Medium

Abstract

Alternative safe ingredients are being increasingly promoted for resilient and sustainable activity, as they are in demand to replace drugs in aqua feed. Curcumin is a multifunction feed additive having immunostimulant and growth-promoting properties. In the present study, curcumin was synthesized and its potency was tested in the water on fish immunity and vital tissue anatomy. Adult Heteropneustes fossilis was treated for a short period (1, 5 days) to a long period (21 days) alone, further, its post-treatment clearance effect (one week without curcumin after 21 days treatment) was studied. The results showed that a mild dose of curcumin (10 ?g/mL) in the medium was able to improve fish health (gill, liver, kidney histotexture) and immunity (direct and indirect haematology parameters) within a short duration and progressed further in a duration-dependent manner. Among haematological indices, some of them increased while others decreased significantly after curcumin treatment. Among immunity parameters white blood corpuscles, myeloperoxidase activity increased and nitroblue tetrazolium registered a decrease significantly, but the one-week post-treatment effect suggested poor maintenance of curcumin induced positive response towards health and immunity. Overall, the addition of curcumin (10 ?g/mL) improved the growth performance and health of Heteropneustes fossilis.