Use of live and dead probiotic cells in tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

ABSTRACT:   To investigate the effect of live and dead probiotic cells on the non-specific immune system of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus , probiotics were introduced by feeding either in the form of live or dead cells, or supplying live cells to the rearing water in a closed recirculating system. The probiotics treatment enhanced non-specific immune parameters such as lysozyme activity, migration of neutrophils and plasma bactericidal activity, resulting in improvement of resistance to Edwardsiella tarda infection. Especially, oral administration of live cells seemed to be more effective compared with other probiotic treatments such as oral administration of dead probiotic cells and supply of live probiotic cells to the rearing water. These results indicate that probiotics treatment is promising as an alternative method to antibiotics for disease prevention in aquaculture, and the viability of probiotic bacteria is a key factor to induce more potential effect of probiotics used for fish production.