Vahid Morshedi

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietarylactoferrin (LF) on the growth and feeding performance, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, blood biochemical and immune indices, in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer). For this purpose, 180 fish (average weight 7.94±0.8 g) were randomly distributed into 3 treatments with three replicates for each treatment. Dietary treatments were used in this study including: First group fed control diet, groups 2 and 3 fed control diet containing 400 and 800 mg lactoferrin per kg feed, The obtained results indicated that dietary lactoferrin affected growth and feeding performance and b blood biochemical factors (P < 0.05). At the end of the experiment, antioxidant enzymes activities including catalase and MDA have significantly decreased and increased by dietary lactoferrin respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, immunelogical factors including lysozyme, total imunneglubolin and complement activity increased by dietary lactoferrin (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results of the study indicated that supplementing diet with Lf did not show a positive effect on growth and feeding performance, but could improve non-specific immune response in Asian sea bass. Nonetheless, selecting an appropriate dose can be difficult.