Health status of wild and cultured sea bass in the northern Adriatic Sea

A complex survey has been conducted in the norhern Adriatic Sea over a period of one year that included comparative parasitological, bacteriological, virological, histological, and biochemical studies of the cultured and wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.). The results showed that parasite infestations were due mainly to ectoparasitic monogenea Diplectanum sp. in both cultured and wild sea bass. Philometra sp. and Lerneae sp. were detected in wild sea bass while Triaenophorus sp. and Eimeria sp. were found in reared sea bass. Bacterial pathogens isolated from both reared and wild sea bass belong to Pseudomonadaceae (Pseudomonas sp., P. fluorescens) and unknown Gram-negative bacteria. Moraxellaceae (Acinetobacter sp.), Vibrionaceae (Chewanella putrefaciens) , Enterobacteriaceae (Pantoea agglomerans) and Flavobacterium sp. were isolated from reared fish only. Virological examinations were negative. Histological analysis revealed "fatty liver" (fatty infiltration and degeneration) in the cultured fish. Triglyceride, cholesterol and glucose levels were higher in cultured sea bass (2.55 +- 1.77 mmol/l, 3.68 +-1.43 mmol/l and 9.97 +- 3.33 mmol/l, respectively) than in wild fish (0.80 +- 0.57 mmol/l, 2.95 +- 0.77 mmol/l and 4.79 +- 3.29 mmol/l, respectively). The present paper contributes to establishing a relationship between disease and pathophysiological conditions in wild and cultured fish

First evidence of the P-glycoprotein gene expression and multixenobiotic resistance modulation in earthworm

Multixenobiotic resistance (MXR) is an important mechanism of cellular efflux mediated by ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters that bind and actively remove toxic substrates from the cell. This study was the first to identify ABC transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB1) as a representative of the MXR phenotype in earthworm (Eisenia fetida). The identified partial cDNA sequence of ABCB1 overlapped with ABCB1 homologues of other organisms from 58.5 % to 72.5 %. We also studied the effect of five modulators (verapamil, cyclosporine A, MK571, probenecid, and orthovanadate) on the earthworm’s MXR activity by measuring the accumulation of model substrates rhodamine B and rhodamine 123 in whole body tissue of the adult earthworm. MK571, orthovanadate, and verapamil significantly inhibited MXR activity, and rhodamine 123 turned out to better reflect MXR activity in that species than rhodamine B. Our results show that E. fetida can serve well as a test organism for environmental pollutants that inhibit MXR activity