Effects of dietary lactoferrin on the growth, feeding performance, hematological factors and non-specific immune response of sobaity (Sparidentex hasta) fingerling

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary lactoferrin (LF) growth and feeding performance, hematological factors and non-specific immune response of sobaity (Sparidentex hasta) with an average weight of 7.64 ± 0.3 g. This study was carried out in a completely randomized design with three treatments and replications in fiberglass tanks with 300 liters volume. Fish were fed with feed containing 0, 400 and 800 mg lactoferrin per kg feed for a period of 42 days. At the end of the experiment, blood, plasma and mucus samples were collected. The obtained results indicated that dietary LF did not change sobaity fish growth and feeding performance (P > 0.05). The mucus bactericidal activity significantly rose in fish fed on 800 mg lactoferrin (P < 0.05), although other non-specific immune responses such as white blood cells count, total Ig, lysozyme activity, complement activity and plasma bactericidal activity were not influenced by LF (P > 0.05). But, hemoglobin, hematocrit value and red blood cells count showed significant differences between the control group with the treatments 1and 2 (P< 0.05). Overall, this study showed that hematological factors were affected by dietary lactoferrin. Nonetheless, it can be concluded that feeding of sobaity on the diet supplemented with 400 and 800 mg lactoferrin for a period of 6 weeks do not enhance the non-specific immune response and growth performance.