title: Effect of dietary supplementation with propolis and Aloe barbadensis extracts on hematological parameters and parasitism in Nile tilapia.
abstract: This study evaluated the influence of diet supplementation with propolis and Aloe barbadensis on hematological parameters and parasitism in tilapia. One hundred and eighty fish were distributed among 12 water tanks forming four treatments: fish supplemented with a 1:1 mixture of 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% propolis and aloe extracts. After the fish had been fed on the experimental diets for 15 and 21 days, blood samples were taken and parasites collected. The monogeneans Cichlidogyrus sclerosus, C. halli, C. thurstonae and Scutogyrus longicornis were identified in the gills. Between the sampling times, there were increases in the numbers of erythrocytes, leukocytes, thrombocytes and lymphocytes, as observed after 21 days, possibly due to the stress level over the course of the assay and/or accumulation of substances in the organism. Supplementation with the mixture of propolis and aloe for 15 days showed the highest efficacy against the parasites. This was possibly due to the association between the two compounds. The results demonstrated that supplementation with mixtures of extracts did not produce hematological alterations and also favored a significant reduction in the number of gill parasites. The best results were achieved after 15 days of feeding with a diet with 0.5% and 1% supplementation with the extract mixture, which increased efficiency by 83 and 85% respectively.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Geovana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dotta
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brum
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Gabriela Tomas
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Jeronimo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fitotecnia, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maraschin
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maurício Laterça
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D000504:Aloe; D000818:Animals; D023681:Cichlids / Q000097:blood* / Q000469:parasitology*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011429:Propolis
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D011429:Propolis