Reactive oxygen system plays an important role in shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei defense against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and WSSV infection.

The present study investigated the in vivo hemocytic and hepatopancreatic response to Vibrio parahaemolyticus and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) injection in shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. The proliferation of bacteria and virus in shrimp, animal mortality, total hemocyte counts (THCs), phenoloxidase (PO) activity, respiratory burst, and gene expression of immune factors associated with immune recognition (lectin), prophenoloxidase (proPO) activation, and the anti-microorganism (lysozyme) and active oxygen defense response (including respiratory burst, cytosolic manganese superoxide dismutase [C-MnSOD], and catalase [CAT]) were quantified. Shrimp death rate increased significantly and was time-dependent after V. parahaemolyticus or WSSV injection. The production of superoxide anion, and the gene expression including lectin in hemocytes, proPO in the hepatopancreas, lysozyme, C-MnSOD and CAT could be induced by injection with V parahaemolyticus and WSSV. The highest value of lysozyme was in the hemocytes with 66.59 times (at 3 h) greater expression than in the control group after WSSV injection and 3.69 times (24 h) greater than in the control group after V parahaemolyticus injection. In the hepatopancreas, CAT expression showed a significant increase, with up to 16 times greater expression than in the control group at 6 h postinjection with WSSV and 7.02 times greater expression than in the control group at 48 h postinjection with V parahaemolyticus (p < 0.05). However, significant decreases in PO activity and proPO transcripts in hemocytes and lectin transcripts in the hepatopancreas were detected after V parahaemolyticus and WSSV injection (p < 0.05). The results suggest that lysozyme, the antioxidase system, and reactive oxygen species might play a crucial role in shrimp defense against bacterial and viral infection.