a b s t r a c t
The application of additives in the diet as plants or extracts of plants as natural and innocuous compounds
has potential in aquaculture as an alternative to antibiotics and immunoprophylactics. The aim of
the current study was to evaluate the potential effects of dietary supplementation of date palm fruit
extracts alone or in combination with Pdp11 probiotic on serum antioxidant status, on the humoral and
cellular innate immune status, as well as, on the expression levels of some immune-related genes in
head-kidney and gut of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) after 2 and 4 weeks of administration.
This study showed for the first time in European sea bass an immunostimulation in several of the parameters
evaluated in fish fed with date palm fruits extracts enriched diet or fed with this substance in
combination with Pdp 11 probiotic, mainly after 4 weeks of treatment. In the same way, dietary supplementation
of mixture diet has positive effects on the expression levels of immune-related genes,
chiefly in head-kidney of Dicentrarchus labrax. Therefore, the combination of both could be considered of
great interest as potential additives for farmed fish.