Antioxidant and immune gene expression in zebra fish (Danio rerio)

Iodine is the main ingredient produced by the thyroid hormone, which playa a central role in the metabolism and the immune system. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of feeding Artemia fransiscana enriched with potassium iodide on antioxidant and immune gene expression in zebra fish (Danio rerio). Zebra larvae with an average weight of 2±0.01 mg were randomly distributed into 4 treatments with 3 replicates. The treatments were larvae fed 0.2, 0.5 and 1 mg/L potassium iodide enriched Artemia for 2 months. Result showed that potassium iodide significantly (P≤0.05) increased antioxidant and immune gene expression in zebra fish and the intensity of changes followed a dose- dependent manner. The 1 mg/L potassium iodide treated fish showed the highest gene expression in all studied genes. Due to changes in the expression of immune and antioxidant related genes, it appeared that potassium iodide could improve immune and antioxidant function in zebrafish.