Influence of β-glucan Leiber(®)Beta-S on selected innate immunity parameters of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in an intensive farming system

Nutritional support plays an important role in promoting high cellular and humoral innate immunity activity and in preventing outbreaks of disease. The effects of β-glucan Leiber(®)Beta-S dietary supplementation on selected nonspecific immune parameters in juvenile European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in an intensive culture system were studied. The fish were fed commercial pellets containing either 0 (control group) or 200 mg Leiber(®)Beta-S kg-1 of feed (glucan-fed group). After four and eight weeks of feeding, the levels of the following immunological parameters were measured: phagocyte respiratory burst activity, phagocyte potential killing activity, lymphocyte proliferation stimulated by concanavaline A or lipopolysaccharide, serum lysozyme activity, and total immunoglobulin (Ig) serum levels. After four and eight weeks of feeding 200 mg Leiber(®)Beta-S kg feed-1 the levels of all immune parameters were statistically significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the glucan-treated group than in the control group. After eight weeks of feeding the fish 200 mg Leiber(®)Beta-S kg feed-1 and after an additional eight weeks in ponds, the levels of all immune parameters, excluding lymphocyte proliferation stimulated by concanavaline A, were statistically significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the glucan-fed group than in the control group. These data suggest that feeding juvenile eel Leiber(®)Beta-S for four and eight weeks might improve innate immunity.