Ενώ η διατροφή είναι υψίστης σημασίας για τη γενική ευημερία του
εκτρέφονται ψάρια στην υδατοκαλλιέργεια, μπορεί επίσης να έχει ιδιαίτερη επίδραση στο ανοσοποιητικό σύστημα των εκτρεφόμενων οργανισμών που, με τη σειρά του, είναι επίσης πρωταρχικής σημασίας σημασία για την υγεία του οργανισμού ενόψει της ιδιαιτερότητας αυτού του συστήματος ρόλο στη διατήρηση της κλινικής και της επιδημιολογικής ισορροπίας έναντι του αναρίθμητες βιολογικές απειλές για την ομοιόσταση όλων των ατόμων σε οποιαδήποτε πληθυσμός.
While nutrition is of paramount importance for the general well-being of the
reared fish in aquaculture, it can also have special influence on the immune
system of the reared organisms which, in turn, is also of paramount
importance for the health of the organism in view of this system’s particular
role in maintaining the clinical and the epidemiological balance vis-à-vis the
innumerable biological threats to the homoeostasis of all individuals in any
population. This particular dimension of fish nutrition is the subject of this
post-graduate dissertation. The wide-ranging topics of the subject
encompass all the possible impacts of the nutritional status of the animals
which might be affecting their immune system capacities. A great number of
vitamins, trace elements, aminoacids and fatty acids have been shown by
various studies, summarized herein, to be essential for maintaining or, on
occasion, even improving the normal functions of the fish immune system.
On the other hand, nutritional deficiencies and imbalances could have
negative effects on the system, thus compromising its role as a natural
defence of the entire organism against pathogenic entities. From the
literature reviewed herein, the immunological significance of supplementing
the ‘usual’ fish feedstuffs with antioxidant vitamins and minerals has become
apparent. However, for each dietary factor or combinations thereof the
dosaging could be particularly important for achieving the desirable effect.
As regards the timing of such nutritional attempts at boosting the
performance of the immune system, this is also a serious issue as the
possibilities are better in anticipation rather than in the aftermath of
immunodepressive events or conditions so as to avoid the negative impacts
of such cases. There are, also, positive cases for seeking to optimize the
immune responses notably when carrying out vaccination procedures.
Finally, the fish species, biological stage and ambient factors might
determine the outcome of this kind of interventions and, therefore, a lot more
of research is called for in order to clarify and, if possible, to standardise the
dosages of each and every nutritional factor and their combinations with
regard to the particular immunological mechanisms they might aff ect and
modulate. The benefits of such studies, in terms of disease resistance, can
be evidently considerable with all positive implications for both the fishfarming industry and its natural environment.
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