© Society of Applied Sciences 7 Histological Alterations in the Hepatic Tissue of Asian Catfish, Fed With Different Dietary Fats Clarias batrachus, Pradeep Shrivastava , Akhilesh Kumar Yadav , Wazir Singh Lakra , Shipra Chowdhary , Rajesh Dayal , Sudhir Raizada , Prem Prakash Srivastava INTRODUCTION 1 2 3,5 3 3 3 3,4,* 1 2 3 Department of Applied Aquaculture and Zoology, Barkatullah Viswavidyalaya, Bhopal, MP, India Aquaculture Research Training Unit, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-22 105, UP National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Canal Ring Road, Teli Bagh, Lucknow 226 002, UP, India Fish Nutrition, Biochemistry and Physiology Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai-400 061, MS Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Mumbai-400 061, MS, India – 4 5 Received 10-08-2013 Revised 03-10-2013 Accepted 20-10-2013 The histopathological alterations in the hepatic tissue in vertebrates on account of dietary supplementation are important biomarkers for assessing the impact of dietary manipulations. A well balanced nutrition in fish production system is essential for the production of healthy and high quality fish products. Riche and Garling [1] reported that fish reared in intensive tank systems require all nutrients in a complete pelleted diet since natural food is limited and fish cannot forage on natural foodstuffs. The study to record the cellular changes, if any, in the fish liver tissue on feeding any alternate diet for a longer time is therefore considered a useful tool for the assessment of its impact. Due to the constantly increasing world fish production demand, it is necessary to increase aquaculture production through dietary manipulations with increased dietary energy by adding high energy fat contents and protein sources. Since the fish oil is not only costly but become dearer day by day, there is an urgent need to evaluate the dietary potential of various available fat sources including animal and plant sources. In recent, the emphasis is being given to replace animal fat with less expensive plant fat. Therefore, monitoring histological structure of fish livers is the method of ASIAN J. EXP. BIOL. SCI.VOL 4(4) 2013: 575-580 ORIGINAL ARTICLE ABSTRACT Key words The Teleost liver is susceptible to numerous disturbances, including toxic and/ or metabolic changes. Different types of fat in the diets were evaluated to observe their impact on the hepatic tissue of asian catfish (Clarias batrachus). The catfish was fed with six experimental diets (FISOL, F1; BETAL, F2; SOYAL, F3; LINOL, F4; MIXOL, F5; SATOL, F6) and a control (NATFO, F7) of natural foodstuffs for 12-weeks. FISOL, BETAL, SOYAL, LINOL and SATOL diets containing 10.0% each of fish oil, beef tallow, soybean oil, linseed oil and saturated oil in F1, F2, F3, F4 and F6 diets respectively whereas, MIXOL, F5, contains 2.5% each of fish oil, beef tallow, soybean oil and linseed oil. Livers of 3 fishes from each treatment were excised and processed for routine histopathological evaluation. The histological changes in hepatic tissue, following dietary interventions, were assessed by light microscopy. The results revealed mild pathological alterations in the liver tissue like fatty degeneration, parenchymal cell necrosis, enhanced vacuolization, pyknosis and accumulation of nuclei, which was found in the ascending order with least effects observed with fish oil followed by beaf tallow, soybean oil, mixed oil, saturated fat and linseed oil. It was concluded that supplementation of different type of fats has specific role in the histological alterations, at cellular level, in the hepatic tissue in this fish and these oils could be safely used in combination for economizing the feed cost. Asian catfish. Clarias batrachus. dietary fat. histology. liver. : 575 ASIAN J. EXP. BIOL. SCI. VOL 4 (4) 2013