The use of antibiotics for anti-infection and growth promotion has caused the overuse of antibiotics in aquaculture. However, the benefit or risk of the long-term use of antibiotics on fish growth or health has not been fully addressed. In the present study, zebrafish were fed with sulfamethoxazole (SMX) or oxytetracycline (OTC) at the therapeutic concentrations (100 and 80 mg/kg body weight per day, respectively) for 6 weeks to mimic the long-term use of antibiotics. The digestive enzyme activities were higher in both antibiotic treatments, and higher oxygen consumption rate was found in OTC treated group. As a result, SMX increased the weight gain of zebrafish, and OTC treatment did not show significant prompting effect on growth. The mortality was higher in SMX or OTC treated group on 2nd–4th day after exposure to Aeromonas hydrophila. Lower alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities were found in OTC treated group, while higher malondialdehyde (MDA) content was found in the intestine of both SMX and OTC treated zebrafish. Furthermore, feeding OTC decreased the intestinal microbial richness. This study revealed that long-term use of legal aquaculture concentrations of antibiotics caused systemic adverse effects on fish gut health; stringent policy for use of antibiotics in fish is urgent.
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