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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348955
Research Project: The Role of Mucosal Surfaces and Microflora in Immunity and Disease Prevention

Location: Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr

Title: Confirmation that pulse and continuous peracetic acid administration does not disrupt the acute stress response in rainbow trout

Author
item GESTO, MANUEL - Technical University Of Denmark
item LIU, DIBO - Leibniz Institute Of Freshwater Ecology And Inland Fisheries
item PEDERSEN, LARS-FLEMMING - Technical University Of Denmark
item MEINELT, THOMAS - Technical University Of Denmark
item Straus, David - Dave
item JOKUMSEN, ALFRED - Technical University Of Denmark

Submitted to: Aquaculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2018
Publication Date: 4/13/2018
Citation: Gesto, M., Liu, D., Pedersen, L., Meinelt, T., Straus, D.L., Jokumsen, A. 2018. Confirmation that pulse and continuous peracetic acid administration does not disrupt the acute stress response in rainbow trout. Aquaculture. 492:190-194.

Interpretive Summary: Peracetic acid (PAA) products are commercial mixtures of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide reacted to make a potent disinfectant. PAA is being introduced to aquaculture as a sustainable and eco-friendly disinfectant. We followed up on a previous study that showed rainbow trout could get used to being treated with low doses of PAA (by measuring cortisol, a stress hormone). We wanted to make sure nothing else was causing this lower stress response, so using these same fish left over from the previous study, we measured several other stress indicators, in addition to cortisol, after the fish was pursued with a dipnet for 1 minute. Our results showed that they had a normal stress response to being cased with a dipnet which led to our conclusion that PAA is indeed welfare-friendly to the fish.

Technical Abstract: Peracetic acid (PAA) is considered an eco-friendly alternative to other disinfectants of common use in aquaculture. Previous studies showing a reduction of the fish corticosteroid response to PAA administration after repeated exposures suggested that fish can habituate to PAA exposure. Therefore, PAA would also be a good option from the point of view of fish physiology, although stronger evidence is needed to confirm the use of PAA as welfare-friendly to fish. Besides habituation, other factors could explain the reduction in the corticosteroid response after repeated/prolonged PAA exposure. In this study, rainbow trout that had been exposed to PAA for several weeks were challenged with a secondary stressor: fish were pursued with a dipnet for 1 min and their acute response was evaluated by measuring plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate and brain serotonergic activity. Our results demonstrate that all fish were equally able to mount a normal physiological stress response to the secondary stressor, independent of the previous exposure to PAA. This suggests that the decrease in the cortisol response after repeated exposure to PAA, as seen in previous studies, is a true habituation to PAA administration, which is in support of the use of PAA as a welfare-friendly disinfectant in aquaculture.