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acts as a growth
promoter and an appetizer. It improves feed
intake and digestion, boosts immunity and
has antioxidant and anticoccidial properties.
Primarily however, it is an antibacterial.
In general, gram-negative bacteria, in
contrast to gram-positive bacteria, have
both a cytoplasmic membrane and an outer
lipid cell membrane with a much smaller
peptidoglycan in between. As the ancestral
types of bacteria do not have the outer-
layer, it has been suggested that this extra
outer-layer in the gram-negative bacteria
has evolved as a protection against antibiot-
ics. This is a theory that could explain why
Table 2: Phagocytosis Activity of Catfish under normal conditions
Month Parameter Control
Enro
10ppm
OS
500ppm
OS
1000ppm
OS
2000ppm
Pool SE
Month 1
Phagocytosis (%) 42.55 54.55 23.72 56.85 70.31 5.59
Phagocytosis index (%) 20.31 44.62 33.57 45.61 87.12 14.02
Month 2
Phagocytosis (%) 9.54 10.57 14.23 14.22 17.00 4.84
Phagocytosis index (%) 1.36 1.45 4.06 4.19 4.18 2.21
Month3
Phagocytosis (%) 32.73 33.34 29.77 33.85 40.42 5.53
Phagocytosis index (%) 12.72 13.93 18.92 22.07 24.99 4.23
May-June 2014 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 15
FEATURE
A/S
gram-negative bacteria are more resistant
to antibiotic treatment.
Unlike antibiotics, OS has a very primitive
mode of action. Orego-Stim contains unique
levels of Carvacrol and Thymol which are
natural phenols that act like disinfectants. The
active ingredients of Orego-Stim
can alter
the bacterias cell membrane, increasing its
permeability and resulting in water imbalance
and cell death. This inhibitory effect is not due
to the transfer of any chromosomes, neither
do they affect the cytoplasmic components
of the cells, thus there is no risk of increasing
bacterial resistance, like in the case of penicillin
or streptomycin (Hui, n.d).
Immunity boosting
Two studies conducted at the Kasetsart
University in Thailand, focused on determin-
ing the effectiveness of Orego-Stim
as
an antimicrobial agent against pathogenic
bacteria. The first study was conducted on
white leg shrimp, Litopenaeus Vannamei.
Five treatment groups were reared for three
months. During that time, three groups were
fed Orego-Stim
at different concentra-
tions (500ppm, 1000ppm & 2000ppm), one
group was treated with the commonly used
in-feed antibiotic, enrofloxacin (10ppm) and
a control group fed with the normal diet.
The phagocytic index and the prophenol
oxidase activity were measured monthly.
Phagocytes are cells that protect the animal
by ingesting foreign organisms such as bacte-
ria. Prophenol oxidase activity measures the
volume of enzymes produced which aid the
phagocytes in clearing pathogens from an
organism. Table 1 shows the results of the
study. It can be seen that the Orego-Stim
treated groups show
better immune func-
tion.
Following the three
months, the shrimp
where challenged with
the virulent gram-neg-
ative bacteria Vibrio
harveyi. The challenge
lasted for 10 days. The
bacteria were intro-
duced in two ways,
by bath treatment and
by oral administra-
tion. In both cases, the
vibrio bacteria count
on the intestine and
the hepatopancreas
in the Orego-Stim
2000ppm group was
equal or lower than
the control or the
enrofloxacin treated
groups. Furthermore,
the Orego-Sti m
2000ppm group exhib-
ited a significantly high-
er survival rate.
A study with the
same outline was con-
ducted on hybrid catfish
to evaluate the immune
status of the fish, studied
under two conditions; normal temperature
(27-32C) and low temperature stress (22-
24C). The results are shown in tables 2 and 3.
Appendix 1: Growth Promotion
Study on Rainbow Trout
A commercial trial conducted by a Denmark fish feed producer
studied the growth-promoting effects of Orego-Stim in rainbow
trout. Table 1 shows the results after the 49-day study.
It can be seen that the inclusion of Orego-Stim in the feed
increases the number of production while decreasing the FCR.
On this study, it was further calculated that (including the cost
of feed and Orego-Stim) the OS group added value of more
than 3000
Table: Commercial Trial Data on the growth promoting effects of
Orego-Stim on Rainbow Trout
Control
Orego-Stim
500ppm
Difference
Average Start Weigh (g) 64.6 67.6
Average Final Weight (g) 107.3 114.3
Weight Gain (g) 42.7 46.7 +9.4%
Starting Biomass (Kg) 1,250 1,250
Final Biomass (Kg) 2,087.5 2,212.5
Biomass Gain (Kg) 837.5 962.5 +14.9%
Production of Fish (Kg) 51,450 57,330 +11.42%
Feed Used for Production (Kg) 47,849 51,597 +7.8%
Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) 0.93 0.90 -3.2%
16 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | May-June 2014
FEATURE
It can be seen that in both the normal
and stress conditions, the fish exhibit greater
efficiency to enhance phagocytosis activity and
percentage of phagocytosis, especially during
the first month.
Subsequently they were challenged with
the pathogenic bacteria Aeromonas hydroph-
ila. During the bath treatment challenge, the
groups treated with Orego-Stim
were as
effective as the group being treated with
antibiotics in preventing mortalities (100%
survival rate). However the Orego-Stim
1000-2000 groups were significantly more
effective in eliminating A. hydrophilia in the
intestines, without compromising beneficial
lactic acid bacteria.
Conclusion
Rainbow trout fry syndrome has been
plaguing the salmonid aquaculture industry
and has been causing severe economic losses
through mortalities and cost of treatments
which are becoming less effective as resistance
develops. Currently this disease is in the top 5
diseases that cause economic problems in the
UK aquaculture sector, possibly higher in the
EU and USA sectors.
The use of antibiotics is becoming less
and less sustainable. Certain antibiotics have
been banned in animal use in many countries
as they have been proved to be harmful for
human consumption. The antibiotics that are
available are becoming less effective from
overuse or misuse. Furthermore, even when
the antibiotics do work, their use requires
what is called a withdrawal period to
allow for any chemical residues that can
be attained in the flesh to dissipate. During
this time, the fish are vulnerable to further
infections.
As disease outbreaks will probably occur
during a farming cycle, alternative preventative
or therapeutic treatment options have to be
put in place to help the farmers protect their
livestock. With public opinion rapidly shifting
against the use of chemicals and medications
in their food, use of natural products that can
fulfil that job would be the best option for both
worlds.
With Orego-Stim