EFFECTS OF THE COMBINATION OF VITAMIN C AND E ON NON-SPECIFIC IMMUNE FUNCTION IN JUVENILE SOFT-SHELLED TURTLES TRIONYX SINENSIS

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of the combination of vitamin C and E on non-specific immune function in juvenile soft-shelled turtle. The turtles were fed combination of vitamin C and E at the dosages of 0 and 0mg/kg diets (control group), 250 and 50mg/kg diets(experiment Ⅰ group),2500 and 50mg/kg diets(experiment Ⅱ group), 250 and 250mg/kg diets(experiment Ⅲ group),2500 and 250mg/kg diets(experiment Ⅳ group) diets,respectively. The blood in turtles were collected after 4 weeks,and the phagocytic rate of blood cell, serum bacteriolytic activity, bactericidal activity, levels of complement C3 and C4 were analyzed. The results showed that the phagocytic rate of blood cell and serum bacteriolytic activity in the three of experiment Ⅱ-Ⅳ were significantly higher than that of control,and experiment Ⅳgroup significantly was higher than the other 4 groups. Serum bactericidal activity and level of complement C3 in the four groups of experiment Ⅰ-Ⅳ were significantly higher than control group, and experiment Ⅳ group significantly was higher than the other 4 groups. Positive interaction effects of the two vitamins on the phagocytic rate of blood, serum bacteriolytic activity, bactericidal activity and the level of complement C3 were observed. The level of complement C4 in the four groups of experiment Ⅰ-Ⅳ was significantly higher than that of control,while there was no significant difference among the four groups of experiment Ⅰ-Ⅳ. No interaction effects of the two vitamins on complement C4 was observed.