Effect of supplementation of diet with Ferula assafoetida hydroalkohalic extract on mucosal immune response in zebrafish

Due to the increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the side effects of chemical drugs, the tendency towards the use of medicinal plants has increased. The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of Ferula assafoetida hydroalkohalic extract on mucosal immune response (Alkalin phosphatase, total protein and total immunoglobin) in zebrafish. For this purpose 360 fish with an average weight of 0.3 ± 0.01 were randomly divided in 12 aquaria (three replicate) and fed diet supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1and 2 % ferula extract for 60 days. Evaluation of mucosal immune parameters revealed that supplementation of diet with ferula extract significantly elevated total immunoglobin activity in fish fed 1% compared to control and other treated groups (P<0.05) but Alkalin phosphatase and total protein didn’t show significant difference in fish fed supplemented diet compared to control (P>0.05).The mocus protein pattern showed ranges from 11 to 63 kDa. Diet including 1% showed the thickest band mocus protein pattern. Based on the results of this study, using 1% ferula hydroalkohalic extract is recommended for improvement of mucosal immune parameters in zebrafish.