Nutritional Immunostimulation as a Strategy for Improving Litopenaeus vannamei Health during Vibrio harveyi Challenge

Abstract

Vibrio harveyi is an important bacterial pathogen associated with vibriosis and significant mortality in cultured shrimp. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential of dietary immunostimulation to improve growth performance, biochemical health and survival of Litopenaeus vannamei subjected to Vibrio harveyi challenge. Healthy juvenile shrimp were maintained under controlled laboratory conditions and fed a basal diet supplemented with selected dietary immunoadjuvants. A control group received the basal diet without supplementation. Following the feeding period, shrimp were experimentally challenged with V. harveyi and monitored for growth performance, survival and biochemical responses.
Growth-related parameters, including final body weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and survival, were evaluated among the experimental groups. Biochemical parameters including total protein, glucose, carbohydrate and lipid were also assessed to determine the physiological condition of shrimp during bacterial stress. Immunoadjuvant-supplemented groups are expected to show improved growth performance, feed utilization, biochemical stability and survival compared with the untreated V. harveyi-challenged group. The study provides a framework for evaluating dietary immunostimulation as a nutritional strategy for improving the physiological resilience of L. vannamei against bacterial disease.
Keywords: Vibrio harveyi; Litopenaeus vannamei; vibriosis; immunostimulants; growth performance; biochemical parameters; shrimp health.