Veterinary World, EISSN: 2231-0916 RESEARCH ARTICLE Available at www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol.14/March-2021/1.pdf Open Access The vulnerary potential of botanical medicines in the treatment of bacterial pathologies in fish Farida Nurzhanova1 , Gaisa Absatirov1 , Bekzhasar Sidikhov1 , Alexander Sidorchuk2 , Nurbek Ginayatov1 and Kenzhebek Murzabaev1 1. Zhangir Khan West Kazakhstan Agrarian-Technical University, Republic of Kazakhstan; 2. Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after K.I. Skryabin, Russia. Corresponding author: Farida Nurzhanova, e-mail: [email protected], Co-authors: GA: [email protected], BS: [email protected], AS: [email protected], NG: [email protected], KM: [email protected] Received: 06-09-2020, Accepted: 15-01-2021, Published online: 02-03-2021 doi: www.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.551-557 How to cite this article: Nurzhanova F, Absatirov G, Sidikhov B, Sidorchuk A, Ginayatov N, Murzabaev K (2021) The vulnerary potential of botanical medicines in the treatment of bacterial pathologies in fish, Veterinary World, 14(3): 551-557. Abstract Background and Aim: The use of plant-based medicine in treating and preventing fish disease has become increasingly popular due to the resistance of bacterial pathogens to chemicals widely used in aquaculture. This study explored the vulnerary effect of botanical medicines made from local raw materials (greater celandine [Chelidonium majus L.], St. John’s wort [Hypericum perforatum L.], and bur beggar-ticks [Bidens tripartita L.]) in the treatment of sturgeon bacterial pathologies in a controlled environment. Materials and Methods: The vulnerary activity of herbal infusions was studied on spontaneously infected fish by assessing the degree of wound healing at regular intervals: The state of the wound, reduction of the wound surface area, the formation of granulation tissue, epithelization, and wound contraction. Results: A positive vulnerary effect of C. majus, H. perforatum, and B. tripartita was observed, consistent with the use of these plants in folk and traditional medicine. The plant materials eliminated infection, had anti-inflammatory and vulnerary effects, stimulated granulation tissue development, and enhanced regeneration. Compared with widely accepted methods (antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic agents), botanical medicine facilitated more effective treatment over the same period without side effects. Conclusion: Practical use and the results of this study show the potential of using herbal infusions for therapeutic purposes in aquaculture. Keywords: fish, plant raw material, vulnerary effect, wound. Introduction botanical therapies in fish [8-21]. Medicinal plants are The aquaculture industry has experienced an used as immunostimulant, stress-relieving [10-12], emergence of diseases of various etiologies due to high antiparasitic [13,14], antioxidant, and antimicrobial stocking density and stressful conditions. Among the agents [15-21]. pathologies that occur when keeping fish in recirculat- Plant extracts of Boesenbergia pandurata, ing aquaculture systems, the most common are bacte- Salmo ferox, and Zingiber zerumbet for the preven- rial diseases caused by Aeromonas and Pseudomonas tion of illness caused by Aeromonas hydrophila species [1-7]. and Pseudomonas spp. have a positive effect on the Fish disease treatment strategies are based pri- non-specific immune response and inhibit bacterial marily on the use of antibiotics and chemotherapy. infection [18]. Bioactive compounds of Origanum vul- However, in recent years, plant-based medicines have gare have immunostimulant, cytotoxic, bactericidal, become increasingly popular in aquaculture due to the and antioxidant properties, which make them promis- resistance of bacterial pathogens to standard antibiot- ing for fish aquaculture [19]. A study of B. pandurata, ics, the accumulation of antibiotics in food fish, and S. ferox, and Z. zerumbet showed their antibacterial environmental pollution. properties in preventing and treating infections caused Studies of the past decades showed encour- by A. hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens [20]. aging results and opened up new opportunities for Studies of the immunostimulant effects of brier (Rosa canina) on the hematological and immune parameters Copyright: Nurzhanova, et al. Open Access. This article is of sturgeons infected with Mycobacterium salmoniph- distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ ilum showed a non-specific immune response and the by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and antibacterial effect of this plant [21]. reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the In addition to a wide range of anti-inflamma- Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. tory, antimicrobial, and immunostimulant properties, The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data biologically active plant components also exhibit vul- made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. nerary activity [22-29]. Plants and their extracts have Veterinary World, EISSN: 2231-0916 551 Available at www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol.14/March-2021/1.pdf great potential for the treatment of pathogenic and feed contained 20.03 MJ of assimilated energy and non-pathogenic wounds. 47.0% crude protein. Feeding was carried out by hand Data on the potential for wound healing of plant twice a day according to the calculated rates. extracts used in aquaculture are scarce. There are stud- Experimental models ies on the wound healing effect of walnut leaves and To study wound healing, we used fish sponta- onion leaves on wounds in Clarias gariepinus [30], neously (naturally) affected by pseudomonosis and accelerated wound healing in African catfish when aeromonosis, with moderate disease severity. Sturgeon Ocimum gratissimum was added to the feed [31], individuals with pronounced clinical signs of a bacte- and wound healing in Labeo rohita fish with cur- rial disease were identified during examination. Based cumin [32]. Healing in fish has mainly been studied on the clinical examination results, bacteriological in artificially modeled wounds or mechanical inju- studies were performed to confirm the preliminary ries. Little is known about the effect of plant extracts diagnoses of pseudomonosis and aeromonosis. on the healing of wounds caused by pathogenic Typical bacterial septicemia with ulceration and fin microorganisms. erosion, hemorrhagic ulcerative lesions on the skin (both This study explored the vulnerary effect of small on the skin surface and penetrating deep into the botanical medicines made from local raw materials muscles) were observed in sturgeons infected with pseu- (greater celandine [Chelidonium majus L.], St. John’s domonosis. Hemorrhagic septicemia was noted in fish wort [Hypericum perforatum L.], and bur beggar-ticks infected with aeromonosis, characterized by abdominal [Bidens tripartita L.]) in the treatment of sturgeon distention and ascitic fluid accumulation, small superfi- bacterial pathologies in a controlled environment. cial lesions, and local hemorrhage in the gills. Materials and Methods Solution preparation Ethical approval A stock solution was prepared from each plant The experimental plan and procedures with material at a dilution of 1:20. Crushed plant mate- fish within the framework of the current research rial (50 g) was added to 1000 mL distilled water and were approved by the local commission on biologi- infused in a boiling water bath for 30 min. The infu- cal ethics of TOO Batys Zoo Vet Servis (protocol No. sion was cooled, filtered, and used in therapeutic baths 12 dated 01/10/2018). The experiments were con- with an exposure of 30 min with a dilution of 500 mL ducted according to the recommendations set out in of the initial solution per 50 L water. the “Rules of Good Clinical Practice of the Eurasian Experimental design Economic Union” N 79, 03.11.2016. Three treatment groups were prepared: Group Study location and period 1 (n=15, 53% with pseudomonosis, 47% with aero- The study was conducted from September 2017 monosis; C. majus infusion); Group 2 (n=15, 67% with to January 2020 in the RAS at the “Educational pseudomonosis, 33% with aeromonosis; B. tripartita and Scientific Complex of the Pilot Production of infusion); Group 3 (n=15, 60% with pseudomonosis, Aquaculture” LLP, where various species of sturgeon 40% with aeromonosis; H. perforatum infusion), and are grown in Uralsk, Republic of Kazakhstan. a control group (n=15, 53% with pseudomonosis, Plant material 47% with aeromonosis) were formed using the analog The following medicinal plants were selected method. Fish in each experimental group were treated as raw materials for the botanical medicines used with herbal infusions every other day. The control in the study: Greater celandine (Chelidonium group was not treated. majus L.) [24,28], St. John’s wort (Hypericum perfor- Wound healing intensity atum L.) [28,29], and bur beggar-ticks (Bidens tripar- The healing process was observed by taking pho- tita L.) [27,28]. tographs, starting from the day the experiments began. Experimental conditions The wound healing properties of the test plants were The fish were kept in quarantine pools. During the evaluated clinically (the state of the wound, reduc- 2 experiment, the temperature in the closed water