A low‐cost screening system for kinetic analysis of Caligus rogercresseyi : New focus on pharmacological study of caligidosis disease

Abstract

The study of the parasite Caligus rogercresseyi (sea louse) and its effects on salmon farms in Chile is a complex challenge. One of these problems concerns the cost for testing potential treatments' efficacy; the development of in vitro infection models is expensive because of the biosecurity protocol in general and animal care required. Our objective was to develop a low-cost system to evaluate the effect of different drugs on Caligus infestation. We previously used a low-cost software (ImageJ) to observe the kinetic parameters in Caligus sperm cells, which had been video recorded under an inverted microscope. The same was carried out for Caligus at different lifecycle stages (copepodites), where we used a modified protocol for ImageJ analysis (CASA) for kinetic parameter analysis. The Caligus were observed under both controlled (seawater at 15°), or experimental conditions (tap water dilution 0.1 at 100 V/V). Our results suggest that we can use the ImageJ plugin (CASA) as a low-cost system for screening potential drug compounds that have the potential to alter the physiology of Caligus rogercresseyi, as well as compare the pharmacological effects of a new drug before conducting an in vitro or in vivo study.