5-AMINOLEVULINIC ACID ENHANCES

ATP PRODUCTION, IMMUNE RESPONSE AND ECDYSIS IN

PACIFIC WHITE SHRIMP (Litopenaeus vannamei)
Ivane R. Pedrosa-Gerasmio1, Tohru Tanaka2, Asuka Sumi3, Hidehiro Kondo4, Ikuo Hirono5

1
Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology,
Tokyo, Japan
2
SBI Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
3
NeoPharma Japan Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

With the emergence of several infectious diseases in aquaculture, there is a growing interest
in the use of feed additives to enhance immunity. Recently, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA),
the precursor of heme biosynthesis, has received attention for its positive effect on immunity
in livestock animals.

To evaluate the effect of dietary 5-ALA in Litopenaeus vannamei, we compared the gene
expression profile, resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and gene expression of some
hemoproteins and genes associated with heme synthesis and degradation between the control
and 5-ALA group (supplemented with 15 ppm 5-ALA). Further investigations on the effects
of the different concentrations of 5-ALA (15, 30 and 60 ppm) on growth, immunity, ATP
level and ecdysis in L. vannamei were also conducted.

Out of 15,745 L. vannamei putative genes on the microarray, 101 genes were differentially
expressed by >fourfold (p< 0.05) between 5-ALA group and control shrimp hepatopancreas,
41 of which were immune- and defense-related. 5-ALA group had higher transcript levels of
porphobilinogen synthase, ferrochelatase, catalase (CAT), nuclear receptor E75 (E75), and
heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and higher resistance against V. parahaemolyticus infection than
the control group.

Hepatopancreas ATP levels increased with increasing 5-ALA concentration after 2 weeks of
feeding. Most of the 5-ALA diets significantly increased the expression of ecdysis-related
genes: E75, cytochrome P450 Shade, chitinase 1, 3 and 4 after 12 weeks of feeding. Six
hours after V. parahaemolyticus immersion challenge, total hemocyte count (THC) and gene
expression levels of CAT and HO-1 were higher in 60-ppm-supplemented group. 5-ALA
groups also showed higher survival rate following V. parahaemolyticus immersion challenge,
compared to the control.

These findings suggest that dietary administration of 5-ALA upregulates various immune-
and defense-related genes (including some hemoproteins), increases ATP level and THC, and
improves resistance to V. parahaemolyticus. 5-ALA also induced ecdysis-related gene
expressions, without adversely affecting growth.