Luís Alberto Romano

Abstract The growth of aquaculture depends on protein sources that can reduce the pressure on fishmeal ( FM ), and Spirulina feed could be an option due to its high nutritional value. Studies on Spirulina as a food in diets of aquatic organisms have increased substantially in the past decade, but the fact that its use in commercial rations does not occur today indicates that there are still challenges that need to be overcome. This review attempts to compile most of the work carried out through today in aquaculture that uses Spirulina as an FM substitute and as a functional feed. The high cost of Spirulina can be compensated if it is used in small quantities because it can improve the health and growth of organisms, compensating for its high economic cost by reducing costs in other production areas.

We have characterized the effect of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors on the activity of CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), Mn-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), catalase, and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPx). CF1 mice (4-month-old females) were administered water containing enalapril (20 mg/l) or captopril (50 mg/l), during 4 to 11 weeks. After 11 weeks, enalapril treatment caused an increase in the activity of CuZn-SOD, Mn-SOD and Se-GPx, from 19 +/- 4 to 46 +/- 7, 2.1 +/- 0.2 to 3.8 +/- 0.2 units/mg protein and 27 +/- 3 to 54 +/- 3 milliunits/mg protein, respectively. After 11 weeks, captopril treatment increased the activities (P < 0.05) of CuZn-SOD, MnSOD and Se-GPx to 35 +/- 4, 2.9 +/- 0.2 units/mg protein, and 38 +/- 2 milliunits/mg protein, respectively. Catalase activity was not affected by the treatments. These results suggest that ACE inhibitors may protect cell components from oxidative damage by increasing the enzymatic antioxidant defenses.