The interaction between temperature and dose on the efficacy and biochemical response of Atlantic salmon to hydrogen peroxide treatment for amoebic gill disease

• Published in: Journal of Fish Diseases
• Main Authors: Wynne, James W., Stratford, Chris, Slinger, Joel, Samsing, Francisca, Rigby, Megan, McCulloch, Russell, Quezada‐Rodriguez, Petra, Taylor, Richard S.
• Other Authors: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13110; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjfd.13110; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jfd.13110; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jfd.13110

Abstract Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a commonly used treatment for a range of parasitic diseases of marine finfish, including amoebic gill disease (AGD). While this treatment is partially effective at reducing parasite load, H 2 O 2 can have detrimental effects on the host under certain conditions. Treatment temperature and dose concentration are two factors that are known to influence the toxicity of H 2 O 2 however, their impact on the outcome of AGD treatment remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of treatment temperature (8, 12 or 16°C) and dose concentration (750, 1,000, 1,250 mg/L) on the efficacy of H 2 O 2 to treat AGD. We demonstrated that a 20‐min bath treatment of H 2 O 2 at all doses reduced both parasite load and gross gill score significantly. Parasite load and gross gill score were lowest in the 1,000 mg/L treatment performed at 12°C. At the high dose and temperature combinations, H 2 O 2 caused moderate gill damage and a significant increase in the plasma concentration of electrolytes (sodium, chloride and potassium). Taken together, our study demonstrates that higher H 2 O 2 treatment temperatures can adversely affect the host and do not improve the effectiveness of the treatment.