Prebiotic Agavin In Juvenile Totoaba,Totoaba Macdonaldidiets, To Relieve Soybean Meal-Induced Enteritis: Growth Performance, Gut Histology And Microbiota

The prebiotic effect of the agave plant polysaccharides (agavin) was evaluated to improve enteritis caused by soybean meal (SBM) in juveniles ofTotoaba macdonaldi(60.8 +/- 2.3 g). Four isoproteic and isolipidic diets were formulated: an FM-based formulation as reference (RD), a blend of FM and PBM (FM-PBM; 1:2 as previously shown better performance than FM), the blend combined with 24% SBM (SBM-B) and, lastly, the latter combination with 2% agavin (SBM-B + A). After 44 days, theSBM-B + A treatment resulted in a definite enteritis improvement, besides a significantly higher final growth (207.1 +/- 3.8 vs. 195 +/- 3.4) compared to the rest of the treatments. According to the microbiota intestine structure, it can be revealed that agavin resulted in enrichment of theSinorhizobiumgenera, characterized by nitrogen fixation. However, at a species level,Clostridium botyricumwas the more prominent in PBM-based feeds, known as beneficial for the suppression of inflammatory response. In contrast, Enterococcus cecorum was identified in the gut of fish fed SBM-based feeds, intensified in agavin-supplemented feeds. Higher expression ofhsp70andaqp8was registered inFM-PBM. It is concluded that agavin provides a clear benefit when added to diets. The implications of FM substitution are discussed.