Fish Immunology

Margaret J. Manning, Mary F. Tatner

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780124692305
• eBook ISBN: 9781483270326
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Zoology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Fish Immunology contains the proceedings of a symposium organized by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, held in Plymouth, England, 11-13 July 1983. This volume contains 29 chapters and opens with a study on the prevention of disease outbreak or treatment of disease in fish farms with drugs or chemicals. Separate chapters follow on topics such as immune phenomena in Teleostei or Anura; phagocytosis in fish; the granulocytes of three elasmobranch species, namely Scyliorhinus canicula, Raja clavata and R. microcellata; and phagocytic cells in the dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula l.); and levels of ?-precipitin in two groups of wild fish: a group believed to be suffering from Ulcerative Dermal Necrosis (UDN) and a healthy group showing no external evidence of disease. Subsequent chapters deal with sequential antigenic competition in teleosts challenged with the fish-furunculosis bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida; the occurrence of vaccine uptake at the skin surface of rainbow trout; and vaccination and development of immunological memory in carp.

FISH IMMUNOLOGY AND FISH HEALTH

W.B. VAN MUISWINKEL¹, D.P. ANDERSON², C.H.J. LAMERS¹, E. EGBERTS¹, J.J.A. VAN LOON^* and J.P. IJSSEL^**, ¹DEPARTMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY & CELL BIOLOGY, AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, P.O. BOX 338, 6700 AH, WAGENINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS; ²U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, NATIONAL FISH HEALTH RESEARCH LABORATORY, BOX 700, KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va. 25430, U.S.A.; ^*AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, DEPT. ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY, 10 HAARWEG, 6709 PJ WAGENINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS; ^**NETHERLANDS CANCER INSTITUTE, DIVISION OF IMMUNOLOGY, 121 PLESMANLAAN, 1066 CK AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

Publisher Summary

This chapter reviews fish immunology and fish health. Fish hatcheries and farms are becoming increasingly important in supplementing sport fisheries and food production. However, in most facilities, the animals are kept at relatively high densities, causing well-known problems of stress and disease. From most studies, it is evident that the problems on the farms can be encountered by measures preventing disease outbreak, or by treatment of the actual disease with drugs or chemicals. As long as effective prevention cannot be achieved for all diseases, the fish farmer has no choice. In the short term, it is important to choose drugs that are not immunosuppressive. In the long term, the relationship between fish genetics and immune reactivity is an exciting new area of research. All the present data on fish-cell populations, regulation of the response by factors, and the major histocompatibility complex are needed to find out why certain fish strains differ in disease resistance.

I INTRODUCTION

The remarkable progress in the field of fish immunology goes hand in hand with the increasing interest in fish farming. Fish hatcheries and farms are becoming increasingly important in supplementing sport fisheries and food production. However, in most facilities the animals are kept at relatively high densities causing well known problems of stress and disease. It is not surprising that a number of recent meetings were organized dealing with the subjects of fish diseases, health and immunology. A number of valuable proceedings are available today (Ahne, 1980; Anderson and Hennessen, 1981; Oláh et al., 1981; Van Muiswinkel and Cooper, 1982; Anderson et al., 1983). From most studies, it is evident that the problems on the farms can be encountered by measures preventing disease outbreak, or by treatment of the actual disease with drugs or chemicals.

II EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND RESULTS

ANTIBIOTICS

One of the drugs which has been approved for the treatment of specific bacterial disease in fish food is the antibiotic oxytetracycline (oxyTC). Initial studies in our laboratory by Rijkers et al., (1980) and Grondel and Boesten (1982) have shown that this drug can be immunosuppressive for thymus-dependent immune responses in carp. Recent experiments in co-operation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have shown that oxyTC is also immunosuppressive in rainbow trout. Feeding oxyTC-containing pellets before antigen injection reduced the number of antibody-producing cells by 75% on the peak day of the response (Fig. 1). Feeding oxyTC in the period after antigen injection had an even more dramatic effect (90% reduction). It is worthwhile to mention that the antigen used in these studies (0-antigen from Yersinia ruckeri) is regarded as thymus-independent (Anderson and Dixon, 1980).

Fig. 1 The number of plaque forming cells (PFC) per 10⁶ white cells (WC) in the headkidney of rainbow trout (12.5° C) after i.p. injection of Y. ruckeri 0-antigen (5 μg/animal). Control animals were fed normal pellets (-0-) at 1.5% body weight/day. The other groups were fed pellets supplemented with 3333 ppm oxytetracycline during 14 days before (-Δ-) or after (-

-) antigen injection. Each point represents the geometric mean ± 1 S.E. (n=5).

In the light of these results, it is obvious that we would only recommend a therapeutic use of oxyTC. Prophylactic use should be avoided.

III VACCINATION

Prevention of diseases by vaccination will provide an alternative to treatment with antibiotics or other drugs. However, vaccination procedures will only be effective when enough information about the basic properties of the defence system is available. In this respect the development of immunological memory is an important aspect. There are some reports on this subject (Avtalion, 1969; Rijkers et al., 1980) but data on the effect of bacterial antigens are scarce (Lamers et al., 1984). Therefore, we studied the primary and secondary response after injection of heat killed Aeromonas hydrophila in carp. It was observed that the height of a standard secondary response, which is regarded as an estimate for memory induction, was dependent on the priming dose (Fig. 2). Interesting enough, an intermediate priming dose of 10⁷ bacterial cells gave the best results. The number of antibody-forming cells at the peak day of the secondary response was about 20 x higher than during the primary response. In another study it was shown that both the priming and challenge route (e.g. bath versus injection) played a role in the induction of memory and the evocation of the secondary response (See Lamers and De Hass, this volume). As the next step, challenge experiments with virulent pathogens are needed before successful vaccination under farm conditions can be achieved. The recent reports on this subject (Anderson, et al., 1983) are very promising.

Fig. 2 The number of plaque forming cells (PFC) per 10⁶ white cells (WC) in the headkidney of carp (22°C). A priming dose was given by i.m. injection with no (-), 10⁵, 10⁷ or 10⁹A. hydrophila cells. The response was measured 9 days after a standard second injection of 10⁹ bacterial cells (challenge). Each bar represents the arithmetic mean ± 1 S.E. (n = 4).

IV DEVELOPMENT AND TOLERANCE

It is important to know at what age a fish becomes reactive to foreign material. To this end, studies on the ontogeny of the immune system of fish are very valuable (Botham and Manning, 1981). The production of monoclonal antibodies specific for surface determinants of carp thymocytes or serum immunoglobulin provides new possibilities for the recognition of cell subpopulations in young animals (Secombes et al., 1983a, 1983b). Morphologic data from these studies suggest that the immune system of carp is fully developed at 2 − 4 weeks of age. However, when the animals are tested for humoral immune function, another picture arose. In fact, intramuscular injection of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) at 4 − 5 weeks post-hatch did not result in a plaques-forming cell (PFC) response. A second SRBC injection of the s...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• CONTRIBUTORS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• Chapter 1: FISH IMMUNOLOGY AND FISH HEALTH
• Chapter 2: SPECIALISATION IN THE TELEOST AND ANURAN IMMUNE RESPONSE: A COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE
• Chapter 3: PHAGOCYTOSIS IN FISH
• Chapter 4: AN IN VITRO STUDY OF POLYMORPHONUCLEAR PHAGOCYTOSIS AND THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE
• Chapter 5: STUDIES ON GRANULOCYTE HETEROGENEITY IN ELASMOBRANCHS
• Chapter 6: PHAGOCYTIC CELLS IN THE DOGFISH (SCYLIORHINUS CANICULA L.)
• Chapter 7: THE MELANO-MACROPHAGE CENTRES OF FISH: A REVIEW
• Chapter 8: FISH SERUM PRECIPITINS TO AEROMONAS SALMONICIDA EXOTOXINS AND PROTEASE-LIPOPROTEIN REACTIONS: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL
• Chapter 9: SERUM PRECIPITINS OF THE ATLANTIC SALMON SALMO SALAR, AND THEIR POSSIBLE ROLE IN IMMUNOLOGICAL DEFENCE
• Chapter 10: NON-IMMUNOGLOBULIN HUMORAL DEFENCE MECHANISMS IN FISH
• Chapter 11: SEQUENTIAL ANTIGENIC COMPETITION IN TELEOSTS: A BACTERIOPHAGE-AEROMONAS SALMONICIDA INTERACTION
• Chapter 12: THE IMMUNE RESPONSE OF BROWN TROUT, SALMO TRUTTA TO SHEEP AND HUMAN ‘O’ ERYTHROCYTES
• Chapter 13: ABSENCE OF ANAMNESTIC ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO DNP–HAEMOCYANIN AND DNP–FICOLL IN RAINBOW TROUT
• Chapter 14: ORAL IMMUNISATION AGAINST FURUNCULOSIS: AN EVALUATION OF TWO FIELD TRIALS
• Chapter 15: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SKIN OF RAINBOW TROUT, SALMO GAIRDNERI RICHARDSON, FOR ANTIGEN UPTAKE MECHANISMS FOLLOWING SPRAY VACCINATION
• Chapter 16: NATURAL AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY IN MARINE TELEOSTS TO BACTERIAL ISOLATES FROM SEWAGE SLUDGE
• Chapter 17: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFICACY OF VACCINES AGAINST VIBRIOSIS CAUSED BY VIBRIO ANGUILLARUM
• Chapter 18: BATH VACCINATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF IMMUNOLOGICAL MEMORY IN CARP (CYPRINUS CARPIO L.)
• Chapter 19: MATERNAL EFFECTS AND RESISTANCE TO INFECTION BY ICHTHYOPHTHIRIUS MULTIFILIIS IN XIPHOPHORUS MACULATUS
• Chapter 20: THE SEPARATION AND CULTIVATION OF FISH LYMPHOCYTES
• Chapter 21: DO FISH HAVE INTERLEUKINS?
• Chapter 22: SUPPRESSION BY CORTISOL OF THE MITOGEN-INDUCED PROLIFERATION OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUCOCYTES FROM PLAICE, PLEURONECTES PLATESSA L.
• Chapter 23: LAMPREY MELANO-MACROPHAGES: STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
• Chapter 24: EVOLUTION OF THE THYMUS IN RAINBOW TROUT
• Chapter 25: THE THYMUS OF THE ANGLER FISH, LOPHIUS PISCATORIUS (PISCES: TELEOSTEI) A LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDY
• Chapter 26: ANTIBODY RESPONSES OF YOUNG CARP, CYPRINUS CARPIO, AND GREY MULLET, CHELON LABROSUS, IMMUNIZED WITH SOLUBLE ANTIGEN BY VARIOUS ROUTES
• Chapter 27: THE ONTOGENY OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN THE VIVIPAROUS TELEOST ZOARCES VIVIPARUS L.
• Chapter 28: EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED IMMUNE REACTIONS TO GONAD IN RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERI)
• Chapter 29: IMMUNOSUPPRESSION AND IMMUNOLOGICAL TOLERANCE IN CARP
• Chapter 30: CONCLUDING REMARKS
• INDEX