Inactivated Probiotic Bacteria Stimulate Cellular Immune Responses of Catla, Catla catla (Hamilton) In Vitro

In the present study, we investigated the in vitro immunostimulatory effects of inactivated form of two potential probiotics, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FPTB16 and B. subtilis FPTB13 in catla (Catla catla). Catla head kidney leukocytes (HK) were incubated with the bacteria alive or inactivated with heat shock (2 h at 60 °C), UV light (for 2.5 h) and formalin (1.0%, v/v) treatment (for 24 h at 4 °C) at different concentrations (10(7), 10(8) and 10(9) cells ml(-1)). After incubation, different cellular immune parameters such as respiratory burst activity, nitric oxide production, leukocyte peroxidase content and proliferative response were analyzed. The inactivated probiotic preparations stimulated all the cellular immune parameters of catla HK leukocytes in vitro. Among the different inactivated preparations, heat-treated form exhibited the best result. The lowest dose (10(7) cells ml(-1)) of both the strains showed the maximum stimulation. The results collectively suggest the efficacy of inactivated preparations to be used as immunostimulant in aquaculture.