Effects of Three Different Anticoagulants on Blood Cell Morphology, Anticoagulation, and Hematological Parameters in Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)

• Main Authors: Ting XIE, Yuntao GAO, Mingyue LI, Yunhong GAO, Yudong JIA, Dongchun YAN
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Chinese
• Published: Science Press, PR China 2023
• Subjects: scophthalmus maximus; anticoagulants; anticoagulant effect; blood cell morphology; blood physiology and biochemistry; Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling; SH1-691; Scophthalmus maximus; Turbot
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.19663/j.issn2095-9869.20210813001; https://doaj.org/article/0fcca365a52148ec801aee18bcf0dc16

Fish blood tends to coagulate due to its specialized characteristics. In general, the detection of blood physiological indices using anticoagulants reflects normal physiological status. However, the selection and application of anticoagulants have no uniform standards because of the specificity and diversity of fish species. In the present study, the effects of three different anticoagulants (sodium heparin, K2EDTA, and sodium citrate) were investigated on coagulation, blood cell type, hematological parameters (white blood cells, red blood cells, hematocrit, and hemoglobin), and plasma cortisol and glucose contents in turbot during acute hypoxic stress. The choice of anticoagulants may result in significant differences in turbot blood physiology and chemistry. To supply technological support in turbot hematological research and best-practice aquaculture, this study compared the effects of three common anticoagulants between normal dissolved oxygen and acute hypoxic states. The recirculating aquaculture system is the main culture model for turbot; water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels are important environmental factors, especially in high-density industrial systems. Sufficient oxygen is key to maintaining normal metabolism in turbot. Experimental procedures were designed for control and treatment groups, each group had three parallels, and 54 turbots were studied in all. In the control group, 200 mg/L MS-222 was used to anesthetize a specimen before collecting 5 mL of blood from the caudal vein; the blood was transferred through a needle and vacuum tubes containing three different anticoagulants, then the vacuum tubes were stored for evaluation after 6 h and 12 h. In the treatment group, nitrogen gas was used to rapidly reduce the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the container to (1.2±0.3) mg/L (measured with a dissolved oxygen meter), after which the same procedure of anesthesia and blood collection was conducted. For blood cell type and morphology studies, the Giemsa staining method was used to ...