Effects of compound Chinese herbs on hepatopancreas and intestinal health, antioxidation and non-specific immunity of Litopenaeus vannamei in greenhouses shrimp farming model

The present study aims to investigate the effects of dietary compound Chinese herbs (Chs) on hepatopancreases (HP) and intestinal health, antioxidation and non-specific immunity of Pacific white shrimp ( L. vannamei ) in greenhouses shrimp farming model. Two kinds of commercial feed were used, namely the control feed (CF) and the Chinese herbals feed (ChF) (added with 2% Chs in the control feed). Two feeds were fed to L. vannamei farmed in greenhouses for 12 weeks. Sampling in the middle and later stages were performed. The two samplings were respectively the mid-stage of CF and ChF group (CF-M, ChF-M), and the late-stage of CF and ChF group (CF-L ChF-L), which formed the above four comparisons. The results showed that the serum acid phosphatase (ACP), HP protease and amylase activities, gill lysozyme, toll-like receptor and immune deficiency genes expression, mid-intestinal folds height, width, and wall thickness of ChF-M and ChF-L groups were all significantly higher than those of CF-M and CF-L groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The HP and intestines of the ChF-M and ChF-L groups showed better histological morphology compared to the CF-M and CF-L groups, respectively. The abundance of intestinal beneficial bacteria Actinomycetes and Rhodobacteraceae were significantly higher in ChF-M and ChF-L groups than those in CF-M and CF-L groups, respectively (P < 0.05). Overall, these results suggest that dietary Chs is beneficial for the HP and intestinal health, antioxidation, and non-specific immunity of L. vannamei in the greenhouses shrimp farming model.