Effect of prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide on hematological and blood serum biochemical parameters of cultured juvenile great sturgeon (Huso huso Linnaeus, 1754)

The nutritional effects of prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide were evaluated using hematological and blood serum biochemical parameters in cultured juvenile great sturgeon (Huso huso). Fish were offered formulated diets containing two levels of prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide (2 and 4gkg(-1)); a basal diet with no prebiotics was used as control. The experiment lasted for 46days. Blood samples were collected from the caudal veins of 18 apparently healthy fish (average weight 217.77 +/- 29.8g) at the end of the trial. No significant differences were found in the serum enzyme activity levels between treatments (P>0.05). However, adding mannan oligosaccharide as a supplement to the basal diet resulted in significant differences in lymphocytes and eosinophils between the control and the 2gkg(-1) treatment (P<0.05) as well as a significant difference in the creatinine factor in the 2gkg(-1) mannan oligosaccharide treatment (P<0.05). The results show that it would be advantageous to add 2gkg(-1) mannan oligosaccharide to the diets of juvenile great beluga sturgeon (Huso huso).