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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Leetown, West Virginia » Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #284862
Title: Pathogenic infection confounds induction of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin in rainbow trout

Author
item BURKI, RICHARD - Vetsuisse Berne
item KRASNOV, ALEKSEI - Nofima
item BETTAGE, KATHRIN - Vetsuisse Berne
item Rexroad, Caird
item AFANASYEV, SERGEI - Sechenov Institute Evolutionary Physiology And Biotechnology
item ANTIKAINEN, MIIA - University Of Kuopio
item BURKHARDT-HOLM, PATRICIA - University Of Basel
item WAHLI, THOMAS - Vetsuisse Berne
item SEGNER, HELMUT - Vetsuisse Berne

Submitted to: Journal of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/30/2012
Publication Date: 7/30/2012
Citation: Burki, R., Krasnov, A., Bettage, K., Rexroad III, C.E., Afanasyev, S., Antikainen, M., Burkhardt-Holm, P., Wahli, T., Segner, H. 2012. Pathogenic infection confounds induction of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin in rainbow trout. Journal of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 31(10):2318-2323.

Interpretive Summary: The egg yolk precursor vitellogenin in male or juvenile fish is a well-established biomarker for assessing the impacts of exposure to chemical changes in the environment. We sought to determine if vitellogenin is able to indicate exposure to environmental estrogens if fish were subjected to multiple stressors, such as parasitic infection. We observed through gene expression analyses that the complexity of the response to estrogenic compounds was increased when fish were also infected with the causative agent of proliferative kidney disease. To this end populations which are sampled for exposure to estrogenic compounds must account for the disease status of the fish.

Technical Abstract: To examine the behavior of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin (VTG) under the combined impact of estrogens and pathogens, parasite-infected or noninfected rainbow trout were exposed to two doses of 17 beta-estradiol (E2). Infected and E2-exposed fish showed significantly lower hepatic VTG mRNA levels than healthy fish. Transcriptome data suggest that this was due to energetic constraints. Reduced responsiveness of the VTG biomarker in parasitized fish might obscure detection of low-level field exposure.