Cortisol and immune characteristics in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) selected for high or low tolerance to stress

1095-8649

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Biology

The influence of exposure to stressors on cortisol and the non-specific immune traits lysozyme and serum haemolytic activity were examined in second generation rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) selected for either high or low serum cortisol level following a confinement stress. Lysozyme and serum haemolytic activity were also assessed, together with levels of specific antibodies against Aeromonas salmonicida A-layer, Vibrio salmonicida O-antigen and Vibrio anguillarum O-antigen, following injection of vaccines against these pathogens.Significant differences in mean cortisol levels between the two selection lines were observed, but in only one of two stress experiments was the ‘high-stress’ line found to have the higher cortisol level; in the other experiment the ‘high-stress’ line had significantly lower cortisol levels than the ‘low-stress’ line. Lysozyme levels were in four of four assessments higher in the high-stress line than in the low-stress line, whereas components of serum haemolytic activity tended to be lower in the high-stress line than in the low-stress line. Levels of specific antibodies against all three bacterial pathogens were elevated following the injection of the vaccines. Only antibody production against A. salmonicida A-layer was significantly different between the two lines, the higher production of antibody being in the high-stress line.

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