Effects of yeast cell membrane prebiotic (immunowall®) on growth performance and hematological parameters in juvenile Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus)

In this study, the effects of the prebiotic supplement, Immunowall® was evaluated on growth performance and hematological parameters of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). For this purpose, juvenile Persian sturgeon with an average initial weight 47.78±0.39 were randomly distributed into nine tanks (500 l) with triplicate treatments were fed by basal diets containing 0.5%, 1% prebiotic supplement and a diet without prebiotic supplement as control (0%) during 8 weeks. After the end of experiments, no significant difference was observed in growth and feed utilization parameters in fish which fed by experimental diets comparison to control diet (P>0.05). Assessment of hematological parameters showed that red blood cell and hemoglobin were significantly higher in the fish fed diet containing 1% compared to control (p < 0.05). Also, no significant differences different were observed between other parameters including white blood cell, mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte (P>0.05). This study revealed that administration of 0.5 and 1% Immunowall does not have a significant effect on growth parameters and food performance. Also, using a diet containing 1% Immunowall can significantly change some of the hematological parameters of Persian sturgeon. For confirmation of the positive effect of prebiotic, it is needed to study biochemical parameters, immune response and fish survival rate after pathogenic bacterial challenge.