THE IMMUNE RESPONSE OF COMET GOLDFISH (Carassius auratus) TO HUMAN SERUM ALBUMIN AT pH LEVELS 7, 8, AND 9

Abstract

The immune response to human serum albumin (HSA) of comet goldfish (Carassius auratus) maintained at pH levels 7, 8, and 9 was studied. pH levels in warmwater fish ponds can rise between 9-10 during summer months. These high pH levels can cause stress to fish and possibly the immune response. Two intraperitoneal injections of 0.5 mg HSA were used, with incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA), in a total of 36 experimental comet goldfish housed pH level 7, 8, and 9 throughout the study. Thirty six control comet goldfish were injected with saline and IFA. Twenty four randomly selected comet goldfish were used as experimentals (12) and controls (12) for each pH treatment. Precipitating HSA antibody was quantitated by reverse radial diffusion (RRD) from samples of experimental comet goldfish plasma 7 and 14 days following the second injection. Control comet plasma did not produce measurable precipitating antibody. The pH levels chosen for the study bracket the optimal pH range of 7.2 - 8.2 indictated for comet goldfish. Statistical evidence from a parametric and non parametric one way analysis of variance of pH treatments and antibody production in response to HSA as measured by RRD revealed that there was no significant difference in comet antibody at the three pH treatments tested.