Journal Article
Evaluation of Silymarin–L-Carnitine as a Dietary Supplement on Growth Performance, Antioxidants and Immunity, Gut/Liver Health, and Gene Expression in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
Akram Ismael Shehata; Eslam Tefal; Ayaat M. Elmaghraby; Asem A. Amer; Islam I. Teiba; Mayada Alhoshy; Mahmoud S. Gewaily; Zhixun Guo; Shengkang Li; Mohammed F. El Basuini
Fishes · Vol. 10, Issue 11 · pp. 580 · 2025
Abstract
Silymarin and L-carnitine are individually used in fish diets, yet whether they exert interactive or additive effects when combined remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the individual and combined impacts of dietary silymarin (S), L-carnitine (LC), and their combination (S + LC) on growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, antioxidant status, immune response, and gene expression in Nile tilapia. A total of 360 fish (initial body weight: 10.01 ± 0.03 g) were randomly allocated into 12 fiberglass tanks (30 fish/tank) and fed one of four diets for 84 days: control (basal diet), S (850 mg/kg), LC (500 mg/kg), and S + LC (425 mg/kg S + 250 mg/kg LC). Fish fed S and S + LC diets exhibited significantly higher final body weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate (SGR), along with improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the control (p