Fish Nutrition Lab, Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, 38000, Pakistan.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, 38000, Pakistan.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 29;14(1):22571. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72268-4.
The efficacy of herbal supplements in mitigating heavy metals (HMs) toxicity was investigated using a widely grown fish, the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The experiment was conducted over two phases: during the stress phase, the experimental fishes were exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of HMs, including lead, cadmium, zinc, and copper for 15 days; following which during the feeding phase, herbal supplements were given for 70 days to ameliorate their effects. Seven groups were established: the control negative group (CON-ve), control positive group (CON+ve, without any treatment), and five groups with supplementation of 1% turmeric (TUR), cinnamon (CIN), ginger (GIN), garlic (GAR), and their mixture (MIX), respectively. A total of 315 fishes were distributed evenly in experimental tanks (15 fishes per tank, in triplicates). The results revealed that exposure to HMs led to significant (p < 0.05) alterations in all the tested parameters, i.e., liver damage and growth reduction. The herbal supplements, especially the MIX groups, ameliorated the harmful effects of HMs and restored fish growth, digestibility, carcass composition, and liver health. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the herbal supplements were effective in reducing the HMs-linked toxicity in Nile tilapia. Future studies pertaining to the mechanisms facilitated by the various herbal bioactive substances-linked tolerance to HMs in fishes are warranted.
本研究采用广泛养殖的罗非鱼(Oreochromis niloticus)来探究草本补充剂缓解重金属(HMs)毒性的功效。实验分为两个阶段进行:在应激阶段,实验鱼类暴露于亚致死浓度的 HMs(包括铅、镉、锌和铜)中 15 天;随后在喂养阶段,给予草本补充剂 70 天以减轻其影响。共设立了 7 个组:对照组(CON-ve)、阳性对照组(CON+ve,不进行任何处理),以及分别添加 1%姜黄(TUR)、肉桂(CIN)、生姜(GIN)、大蒜(GAR)和它们的混合物(MIX)的 5 个补充组。共有 315 条鱼均匀分配到实验缸中(每个缸 15 条鱼,重复 3 次)。结果表明,暴露于 HMs 会导致所有测试参数(即肝损伤和生长减少)发生显著变化(p<0.05)。草本补充剂,特别是 MIX 组,减轻了 HMs 的有害影响并恢复了鱼类的生长、消化率、体组成和肝脏健康。总之,本研究表明,草本补充剂可有效降低尼罗罗非鱼的 HMs 相关毒性。需要进一步研究各种草本生物活性物质介导的鱼类对 HMs 耐受的机制。