Effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf powder and ethanolic extract on expression function of immune genes of Litopenaeus vannamei

Nowadays, given the numerous disease problems that have arisen in shrimp farms, the utilization of nutritional supplements to strengthen the immune response and controlling the common diseases in dense shrimp farming have been highly regarded.  So, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of basic diet formulated with different levels of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (25, 50 and 100g/kg) and ethanolic extract (0.25, 0.5 and 1g/kg) in seven treatments each with three replicates on the expression of immune genes in the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. After 8 weeks, the mRNA expression of four immune genes, including alpha-2-macroglobulin (α2M), Lipopolysaccharide and B1,3-glucan binding protein (LGBP), Peroxinectin (PX) and integrinß, were measured in the hepatopancreas using Real-time PCR technique. The results showed a statistically significant differences in the expression levels of the α2M, LGBP, PX genes in all treatments (p<0.05). The expression level of α2M in treatments of 0.25 and 0.5 g/kg extracts and 25 g/kg Moringa leaf powder were significantly higher than that of the other treatments (p<0.05). The highest levels of LGBP expression were observed in 0.5 and 1g/kg Moringa leaf extract and the highest level of PX gene expression was observed in 0.5 and 1g/kg Moringa leaf extract and 25g/kg Moringa leaf powder treatments, which was significantly higher than other treatments and the control treatment (p<0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study showed the positive effects of using 0.5 and 1 g/kg Moringa leaf extract and 25 g/kg leaf powder on the functioning of the immune system in L. vannamei.