Evidence of immune and inflammatory processes in the gills of AGD-affected Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L

• Published in: Fish & Shellfish Immunology
• Main Authors: Pennacchi, Y, Leef, MJ, Crosbie, PBB, Nowak, BF, Bridle, AR
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014
• Subjects: Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences; Fisheries Sciences; Aquaculture; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2013.12.013; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24378682; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/91201

Amoebic gill disease (AGD) is a disease caused by the ectoparasite Neoparamoeba perurans which affects several cultured marine fish worldwide. The characterisation of pro-inflammatory and immune related genes at the mRNA level in AGD-affected Atlantic salmon gills was performed at 10 days post-inoculation using 2D quantitative RT-PCR, a method of mapping transcriptional responses in tissues. The genes of interest were IL-1β, TNF-α, TCR-α chain, CD8, CD4, MHC-IIα, MHC-I, IgM and IgT. A significant increase in expression of the mRNA of all the genes was observed in the gills of AGD-affected fish. Contrary to previous studies, our data suggest that the parasite, N.perurans , elicits a classical inflammatory response in the gills of AGD-affected fish and indicates that the mRNA expression of immune genes within gill lesions misrepresents the cellular immune response in the gills during AGD.