Changes in the Immune System of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during the Parr-to-Smolt Transformation and after Implantation of Cortisol

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec G. Maule ◽  
Carl B. Schreck ◽  
Stephen L. Kaattari

The primary immune response of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), as assessed by the production of splenic antibody-secreting cells (plaque-forming cells, PFC) after an injection of Vibrio anguillarum O-antigen, decreased during smoltification. This period was marked by increases in gill Na+-K+-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity and plasma thyroxine and cortisol titers. Numbers of leucocytes relative to erythrocytes in peripheral blood and splenic lymphocytes relative to fish body weight were also reduced. Fish reared at normal hatchery density (approximately 2 fish∙L−1) appeared to have reduced rates of development and higher numbers of PFC than fish reared at one-third normal density. Moreover, in fish changed from normal density to low density 2 wk before sampling, ATPase activity and plasma thyroxine levels were equal to those in fish reared continuously at normal density, but plasma cortisol levels and PFC were equal to those in fish reared at low density. Fish with cortisol implants had higher plasma cortisol titers, reduced numbers of splenic PFC, splenic lymphocytes, and circulating leucocytes, and greater mortality when fish were exposed to V. anguillarum.

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 2179-2187 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mark Shrimpton ◽  
Nicholas J. Bernier ◽  
David J. Randall

Cortisol dynamics were examined in hatchery and wild juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) over the spring of 1991 and 1992 when the fish were smolting. Wild fish were caught in the upper Quinsam River, British Columbia and at the downstream enumeration fence when they started to migrate. Two groups of hatchery fish were from the top and bottom ends of an earthen rearing channel. Plasma cortisol levels increased during the spring in all groups, but were significantly greater in wild than in hatchery smolts. The half-life of plasma cortisol decreased as fish smolted; however, there was no difference among the groups. Corticosteroid receptor (CR) concentration and affinity decreased during the spring. Wild fish consistently possessed the greatest gill concentration of CR. The change in dissociation constant (kD) was similar for hatchery and wild fish during spring 1991. In 1992, hatchery fish showed a similar gradual increase. In contrast, wild fish did not show an increase in kD until May. The changes in cortisol concentration in the plasma and the CR kD occurred synchronously with the increase in Na+K+ATPase activity in wild fish, which showed the greatest increase in kD, plasma cortisol, and Na+K+ATPase activity.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Salonius ◽  
George K. Iwama

Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (0. tshawytscha) from aquaculture and wild environments were subjected to handling (30–60 s of netting and aerial emersion) and disease challenges. Plasma cortisol concentrations ([cortisol]pl) in both coho and chinook salmon from wild environments were significantly elevated 4 h after handling. Colonized coho salmon (hatchery-reared fish, transported into a natural water body as fry) responded in a similar fashion to wild fish, while those reared entirely in the hatchery showed no significant rise in [cortisol]pl. The responses to handling stress were retained in wild and colonized coho salmon after 7 mo of hatchery rearing. A transient increase in the leukocyte to red blood cell ratio in both wild and hatchery-reared chinook salmon occurred 4 h after handling. Handling signficantly decreased the antibody-producing cell (APC) number in wild fish and elevated their [cortisol]plrelative to hatchery fish. Wild fish had the highest APC number among the three groups before the handling. No difference in resistance to Vibrio anguillarum was apparent in coho and chinook salmon among the different rearing environments, although chinook salmon were generally more susceptible; disease resistance was reduced in wild coho salmon after 7 mo of rearing in a hatchery.


1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1191-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Dill ◽  
T. G. Northcote

In experimental aquaria with large gravel (3.2–6.3 cm), vertical and lateral movements of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) alevins were more extensive and area utilized per alevin was greater than in small gravel (1.9–3.2 cm). At low density (50 per aquarium) the alevins moved farther towards the inlet, but the mean area occupied per alevin was the same as that at high density (100 per aquarium). Burial depths tested (20 and 30 cm) had no significant effect on vertical or lateral movements or on area utilized per alevin. Alevin orientation in the gravel, survival to emergence, and timing of emergence were not affected by any of the environmental variables examined.


1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (2) ◽  
pp. R432-R438 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Shrimpton ◽  
D. J. Randall

The effect of stress and cortisol treatment on corticosteroid receptors (CRs) in the gills of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) was examined. Plasma cortisol levels were elevated acutely by intraperitoneal injection of cortisol 21-hemisuccinate and chronically by implanting miniosmotic pumps filled with cortisol or by repeated daily handling stresses. CR concentration and affinity were measured by radioreceptor assay employing 3H-labeled triamcinolone acetonide as ligand. Acute administration of cortisol resulted in a reduction in CR numbers for 72 h with no change in affinity. Chronic cortisol treatment resulted in a decrease in CR concentration and affinity. The change in affinity occurred only while plasma cortisol levels remained elevated, but CR population remained significantly reduced for at least 10 days after cessation of hormone treatment. Repeated handling stresses resulted in a similar reduction in CR numbers but without an apparent change in affinity. The chronic or repeated elevation in plasma cortisol downregulates the sensitivity of the gills to cortisol by a persistent reduction in CR concentration, despite the return to nonstress levels of circulating cortisol.


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