Syed Shariq Nazir Qadiri, Makesh Marappan and Faiqa Syeed Farooqi
Abstract
A study was conducted to assess the lysozyme activity in Cirrhinus mrigala. The fishes were immunized by inactivated Edwardsiella tarda by different routes viz. oral, immersion, injection and anal intubation. The lysozyme activity was measured in serum and mucus (collected from skin, gill and gut) of the fish on 0 and 60 days post-immunization by following standard protocols. Lysozyme activity in serum on the 60th day post-immunization was significantly higher in oral group (127.49±1.54) and immersion group (120.82±1.98) than the rest of the treatments. Lysozyme activity of skin mucus and gill mucus on the 60th day postimmunization was highest in immersion compared to rest of the treatments. The lysozyme activity in gut mucus was significantly higher in oral group (24.83±1.89) on the 60th day post-immunization compared to rest of the treatments. Our study demonstrated that fishes immunized via oral and immersion routes showed increased lysozyme activity compared to the rest of immunization routes employed.