Evaluating Non-Antibiotic Therapeutic Strategies for Controlling Lactococcosis in Nile Tilapia: Investigating the Efficacy of Aloe Vera Extracts, Vitamin D and Selenium Supplement, and Probiotics in Experimental Infections
Keywords:
Lactococcosis, Vitamin E, Aloe vera, Probiotic
Abstract
This study investigated non-antibiotic therapeutic strategies for controlling lactococcosis in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The efficacy of Aloe vera extract, Vitamin E/Selenium supplementation, and multi-strain probiotics was evaluated against Lactococcus garvieae infection in an experimental setting. Two hundred Nile tilapia were divided into four groups: control, Aloe vera, Vitamin E/Selenium, and probiotic. After a 42-day treatment period, fish were challenged with L. garvieae and monitored for 28 days. Clinical signs, mortality rates, and survival were assessed. The control group exhibited severe disease progression with 100% mortality by day 21 post-infection. Aloe vera treatment reduced mortality to 20%, showing moderate efficacy. Vitamin E/Selenium supplementation provided greater protection with only 5% mortality. The probiotic-treated group demonstrated the most remarkable results, with no clinical signs or mortalities throughout the study. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between treatment groups and the control, with probiotics showing the largest effect size (Cohen's d = 0.98, p < 0.001), followed by Vitamin E/Selenium (Cohen's d = 0.9, p = 0.001) and Aloe vera (Cohen's d = 0.74, p = 0.003). These findings highlight the potential of non-antibiotic interventions in managing L. garvieae infections, with probiotics emerging as the most effective treatment. The study contributes to the development of sustainable aquaculture practices and reduced reliance on antibiotics, aligning with global efforts to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture.References
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Dawood, M.A., Zommara, M., Eweedah, N.M. and Helal, A.I., 2020. Synergistic effects of selenium nanoparticles and vitamin E on growth, immune-related gene expression, and regulation of antioxidant status of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Biological trace element research, 195, pp.624-635. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01857-6.
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El-Saadony, M.T., Alagawany, M., Patra, A.K., Kar, I., Tiwari, R., Dawood, M.A., Dhama, K. and Abdel-Latif, H.M., 2021. The functionality of probiotics in aquaculture: An overview. Fish & shellfish immunology, 117, pp.36-52.
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Elumalai, P., Kurian, A., Lakshmi, S., Faggio, C., Esteban, M.A. and Ringø, E., 2020. Herbal immunomodulators in aquaculture. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 29(1), pp.33-57. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2020.1779651.
Eraclio, G., Ricci, G., Quattrini, M., Moroni, P. and Fortina, M.G., 2018. Detection of virulence-related genes in Lactococcus garvieae and their expression in response to different conditions. Folia microbiologica, 63, pp.291-298. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-017-0566-z.
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Kaur, S. and Bains, K. (2024) ‘Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera): Pharmacological activities and clinical evidence for disease prevention’, International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, 94(3–4), pp. 308–321. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000797.
Khaneghah, A.M., Abhari, K., Eş, I., Soares, M.B., Oliveira, R.B., Hosseini, H., Rezaei, M., Balthazar, C.F., Silva, R., Cruz, A.G. and Ranadheera, C.S., 2020. Interactions between probiotics and pathogenic microorganisms in hosts and foods: A review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 95, pp.205-218.
Le, K.T., Dao, T.T., Fotedar, R. and Partrigde, G.J., 2014. Effects of variation in dietary contents of selenium and vitamin E on growth and physiological and haematological responses of yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi. Aquaculture international, 22, pp.435-446. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-013-9651-8.
Linayati, L., Yahya, M.Z., Mardiana, T.Y. and Soeprapto, H., 2022. The effect of Aloe vera powder on phagocytosis activity and growth of Litopenaeus vannamei. Aquaculture, Aquarium, Conservation & Legislation, 15(2), pp.1021-1029.
Meyburgh, C.M., Bragg, R.R. and Boucher, C.E. (2017) ‘Lactococcus garvieae: an emerging bacterial pathogen of fish’, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 123(1), pp. 67–79.
Naderi, M., Keyvanshokooh, S., Ghaedi, A. and Salati, A.P., 2019. Interactive effects of dietary Nano selenium and vitamin E on growth, haematology, innate immune responses, antioxidant status and muscle composition of rainbow trout under high rearing density. Aquaculture Nutrition, 25(5), pp.1156-1168. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/anu.12931.
Nair, R.R., John, K.R., Rajan, P., Krishnan, R. and Safeena, M.P., 2024. Co-infection of Lactococcus garvieae and Aeromonas hydrophila in cultured Nile Tilapia in Kerala, India. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, pp.1-13. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-024-01415-w.
Nwanna, L.C. and Ikuesan, B.B. (2024) ‘Aloe vera leaf ( Aloe barbadensis ) iron-oxide nanoparticles improved growth performance, immune response and survival of African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus ) challenged with Aeromonas hydrophilia’, Journal of Applied Aquaculture, pp. 1–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10454438.2024.2394866.
Palaniyappan, S., Sridhar, A., Kari, Z.A., Téllez‐Isaías, G. and Ramasamy, T., 2023. Potentials of aloe barbadensis inclusion in fish feeds on resilience to aeromonas hydrophila infection in freshwater fish labeo rohita. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, 49(6), pp.1435-1459. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01266-6.
Raheem, A., Liang, L., Zhang, G. and Cui, S., 2021. Modulatory effects of probiotics during pathogenic infections with emphasis on immune regulation. Frontiers in immunology, 12, p.616713.
Schar, D., Klein, E.Y., Laxminarayan, R., Gilbert, M. and Van Boeckel, T.P., 2020. Global trends in antimicrobial use in aquaculture. Scientific reports, 10(1), p.21878. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78849-3.
Soltani, M., Baldisserotto, B., Hosseini Shekarabi, S.P., Shafiei, S. and Bashiri, M., 2021. Lactococcosis a re-emerging disease in aquaculture: Disease significant and phytotherapy. Veterinary Sciences, 8(9), p.181.
Sumon, M.A.A. et al. (2022) ‘Single and multi-strain probiotics supplementation in commercially prominent finfish aquaculture: Review of the current knowledge’, Journal of microbiology and biotechnology, 32(6), p. 681.
Zhou, C., Wang, H., Li, X., Luo, Y., Xie, M., Wu, Z. and Chen, X., 2019. Regulatory effect of Bacillus subtilis on cytokines of dendritic cells in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(2), p.389.
Andayani, S.R.I., Dadiono, M.S., Elwira, W.T. and Setyawan, F.H., 2020. Potency of aloe extract as immunostimulant for carp (Cyprinus carpio) against Aeromonas salmonicida. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 21(3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d210302.
Aron, Y. (2017) Pond management practices, occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of streptococcus and Lactococcus species in cultured Tilapia in Morogoro, Tanzania. PhD Thesis. Sokoine University of Agriculture. Available at: http://41.73.194.142/handle/123456789/2065 (Accessed: 2nd December 2024).
Ashraf, R. and Shah, N.P. (2014) ‘Immune System Stimulation by Probiotic Microorganisms’, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 54(7), pp. 938–956. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2011.619671
Bondad‐Reantaso, M.G., MacKinnon, B., Karunasagar, I., Fridman, S., Alday‐Sanz, V., Brun, E., Le Groumellec, M., Li, A., Surachetpong, W., Karunasagar, I. and Hao, B., 2023. Review of alternatives to antibiotic use in aquaculture. Reviews in Aquaculture, 15(4), pp.1421-1451. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12786.
Bwalya, P., Hang’ombe, B.M., Gamil, A.A., Munang'andu, H.M., Evensen, Ø. and Mutoloki, S., 2020. A whole-cell Lactococcus garvieae autovaccine protects Nile tilapia against infection. Plos one, 15(3), p.e0230739. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230739.
Chen, J., Sun, R., Pan, C., Sun, Y., Mai, B. and Li, Q.X., 2020. Antibiotics and food safety in aquaculture. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 68(43), pp.11908-11919. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.0c03996.
Dawood, M.A., Zommara, M., Eweedah, N.M. and Helal, A.I., 2020. Synergistic effects of selenium nanoparticles and vitamin E on growth, immune-related gene expression, and regulation of antioxidant status of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Biological trace element research, 195, pp.624-635. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01857-6.
Egger, R.C., Rosa, J.C.C., Resende, L.F.L., de Pádua, S.B., de Oliveira Barbosa, F., Zerbini, M.T., Tavares, G.C. and Figueiredo, H.C.P., 2023. Emerging fish pathogens Lactococcus petauri and L. garvieae in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) farmed in Brazil. Aquaculture, 565, p.739093.
El-Saadony, M.T., Alagawany, M., Patra, A.K., Kar, I., Tiwari, R., Dawood, M.A., Dhama, K. and Abdel-Latif, H.M., 2021. The functionality of probiotics in aquaculture: An overview. Fish & shellfish immunology, 117, pp.36-52.
El‐Sayed, A.M. and Izquierdo, M. (2022) ‘The importance of vitamin E for farmed fish—A review’, Reviews in Aquaculture, 14(2), pp. 688–703. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12619
Elumalai, P., Kurian, A., Lakshmi, S., Faggio, C., Esteban, M.A. and Ringø, E., 2020. Herbal immunomodulators in aquaculture. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 29(1), pp.33-57. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2020.1779651.
Eraclio, G., Ricci, G., Quattrini, M., Moroni, P. and Fortina, M.G., 2018. Detection of virulence-related genes in Lactococcus garvieae and their expression in response to different conditions. Folia microbiologica, 63, pp.291-298. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-017-0566-z.
Fachri, M., Amoah, K., Huang, Y., Cai, J., Alfatat, A., Ndandala, C.B., Shija, V.M., Jin, X., Bissih, F. and Chen, H., 2024. Probiotics and paraprobiotics in aquaculture: a sustainable strategy for enhancing fish growth, health and disease prevention-a review. Frontiers in Marine Science, 11, p.1499228.
Farías, D.R., Ibarra, R., Estévez, R.A., Tlusty, M.F., Nyberg, O., Troell, M., Avendaño-Herrera, R. and Norden, W., 2024. Towards Sustainable Antibiotic Use in Aquaculture and Antimicrobial Resistance: Participatory Experts’ Overview and Recommendations. Antibiotics, 13(9), p.887.
Haenen, O.L., Dong, H.T., Hoai, T.D., Crumlish, M., Karunasagar, I., Barkham, T., Chen, S.L., Zadoks, R., Kiermeier, A., Wang, B. and Gamarro, E.G., 2023. Bacterial diseases of tilapia, their zoonotic potential and risk of antimicrobial resistance. Reviews in Aquaculture, 15, pp.154-185. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12743.
Kaur, S. and Bains, K. (2024) ‘Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera): Pharmacological activities and clinical evidence for disease prevention’, International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, 94(3–4), pp. 308–321. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000797.
Khaneghah, A.M., Abhari, K., Eş, I., Soares, M.B., Oliveira, R.B., Hosseini, H., Rezaei, M., Balthazar, C.F., Silva, R., Cruz, A.G. and Ranadheera, C.S., 2020. Interactions between probiotics and pathogenic microorganisms in hosts and foods: A review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 95, pp.205-218.
Le, K.T., Dao, T.T., Fotedar, R. and Partrigde, G.J., 2014. Effects of variation in dietary contents of selenium and vitamin E on growth and physiological and haematological responses of yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi. Aquaculture international, 22, pp.435-446. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-013-9651-8.
Linayati, L., Yahya, M.Z., Mardiana, T.Y. and Soeprapto, H., 2022. The effect of Aloe vera powder on phagocytosis activity and growth of Litopenaeus vannamei. Aquaculture, Aquarium, Conservation & Legislation, 15(2), pp.1021-1029.
Meyburgh, C.M., Bragg, R.R. and Boucher, C.E. (2017) ‘Lactococcus garvieae: an emerging bacterial pathogen of fish’, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 123(1), pp. 67–79.
Naderi, M., Keyvanshokooh, S., Ghaedi, A. and Salati, A.P., 2019. Interactive effects of dietary Nano selenium and vitamin E on growth, haematology, innate immune responses, antioxidant status and muscle composition of rainbow trout under high rearing density. Aquaculture Nutrition, 25(5), pp.1156-1168. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/anu.12931.
Nair, R.R., John, K.R., Rajan, P., Krishnan, R. and Safeena, M.P., 2024. Co-infection of Lactococcus garvieae and Aeromonas hydrophila in cultured Nile Tilapia in Kerala, India. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, pp.1-13. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-024-01415-w.
Nwanna, L.C. and Ikuesan, B.B. (2024) ‘Aloe vera leaf ( Aloe barbadensis ) iron-oxide nanoparticles improved growth performance, immune response and survival of African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus ) challenged with Aeromonas hydrophilia’, Journal of Applied Aquaculture, pp. 1–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10454438.2024.2394866.
Palaniyappan, S., Sridhar, A., Kari, Z.A., Téllez‐Isaías, G. and Ramasamy, T., 2023. Potentials of aloe barbadensis inclusion in fish feeds on resilience to aeromonas hydrophila infection in freshwater fish labeo rohita. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, 49(6), pp.1435-1459. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01266-6.
Raheem, A., Liang, L., Zhang, G. and Cui, S., 2021. Modulatory effects of probiotics during pathogenic infections with emphasis on immune regulation. Frontiers in immunology, 12, p.616713.
Schar, D., Klein, E.Y., Laxminarayan, R., Gilbert, M. and Van Boeckel, T.P., 2020. Global trends in antimicrobial use in aquaculture. Scientific reports, 10(1), p.21878. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78849-3.
Soltani, M., Baldisserotto, B., Hosseini Shekarabi, S.P., Shafiei, S. and Bashiri, M., 2021. Lactococcosis a re-emerging disease in aquaculture: Disease significant and phytotherapy. Veterinary Sciences, 8(9), p.181.
Sumon, M.A.A. et al. (2022) ‘Single and multi-strain probiotics supplementation in commercially prominent finfish aquaculture: Review of the current knowledge’, Journal of microbiology and biotechnology, 32(6), p. 681.
Zhou, C., Wang, H., Li, X., Luo, Y., Xie, M., Wu, Z. and Chen, X., 2019. Regulatory effect of Bacillus subtilis on cytokines of dendritic cells in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(2), p.389.
Published
2025-02-04
How to Cite
1.
Chilukutu N, Simbeye L, Mapanza E, Simpemba I, Muzumbwe K, Bwalya E, Mudenda N, Hang’ombe B, Ndashe K. Evaluating Non-Antibiotic Therapeutic Strategies for Controlling Lactococcosis in Nile Tilapia: Investigating the Efficacy of Aloe Vera Extracts, Vitamin D and Selenium Supplement, and Probiotics in Experimental Infections. Journal of Agricultural and Biomedical Sciences [Internet]. 4Feb.2025 [cited 10May2025];8(2). Available from: https://nscme.unza.zm/index.php/JABS/article/view/1311
Section
Veterinary Medicine
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