Effect of microplastic particles on the gills structure of freshwater fish supplemented with probiotics and vitamin C

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of commercial feed with probioticand vitamin C supplements in repairing damage to the gill structure of freshwater fish, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Tilapia in this study were divided into control group (commercial feed), probiotic group (commercial feed with probiotic 200 mg/kg of feed), and vitamin C group (commercial feed with vitamin C 100 mg/kg of feed). Each group was givenmicroplastic particles exposure treatment in aqueous media (0, 0.1, 1, 10 mg/L volume of aquarium water) which was carried out twice a day for 14 days. The results showed that the administration of vitamin C as fish feed supplement reduced the damage that occurred in the tilapia gills in the form of edema (22 ± 3.57%), necrosis (33 ± 4.07%), hyperplasia (38 ± 5.91%), epithelial lifting (28 ± 3.43%), and fusion (17 ± 3.49%) of the secondary lamellae. Meanwhile, the administration of probiotics only reduced the histopathological conditions of necrosis (34 ± 4.57%) and fusion (18 ± 3.07%) of secondary lamellae. From all treatments, it was shown that feeding with vitamin C was the most effective in improving the histopathological condition that occurred in the histological structure of tilapia gills.