Some Patho-Physiologic Effects of Bacterial Kidney Disease in Brook Trout

Summary

The nature of the histopathol-ogy of brook trout infected with bacterial kidney disease suggested that significant changes should occur in physiologic parameters associated with hematopoietic, liver and kidney function. Examination of infected fish bears this out as it shows that the hematocrit is reduced by 44% compared to normal while total plasma protein drops 52%. In addition, electrophoretic analysis of the plasma proteins indicates that the faster migrating fractions (albumin) are the most drastically affected. Pathologic findings have been confirmed and the observation made that there was a difference in susceptibility to kidney disease between males and females.