Association between environmental stress and  epidermal papillomatosis of roach Rutilus rutilus

Abstract

We studied the association between environmental stress and epidermal papillomatosis of roach Rutilus rutilus L. in Finnish waters using a 'matched pairs' design. Populations impacted by industrial and/or sewage effluents were compared to reference populations from pristine sites. We examined both the prevalence (proportion of diseased fish) and intensity (number of scales covered by tumors) of the disease. Results of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) indicated that the risk of papillomatosis was 7.5 times higher in males than females, and increased 1.3 times for every 10 mm increment in fish length. We controlled for the possible effects of fish size, sex and temporal variation through sampling procedures and statistical analyses. Mean prevalence of epidermal papillomatosis was 16.6 and 5.8% in impact and reference populations, respectively (10 population pairs; n fish = 1714). Results of GLMM suggested that the risk of being diseased was 2.7 times higher in the impact than reference populations. Thus, the prevalence of epidermal papillomatosis in roach can be used as an indicator of environmental stress. Results of Linear Mixed Models indicated no difference in the intensity of the disease between impact and reference populations (5 population pairs; n fish = 73; mean ± SE 10.7 ± 1.8 and 11.7 ± 2.9 scales, respectively), although prevalence was higher in impact populations in those 5 population pairs. The possible relationship between environmental stress and intensity of epidermal papillomatosis in natural roach populations remains to be demonstrated. KEY WORDS: Environmental monitoring · Epizootic cutaneous papillomatosis · Roach · Disease · Large lakes · Matched pairs Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 72: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] 2006 and by isolation from cell culture (Schwanz-Pfitzner 1976, Bloch et al. 1986, Sano et al. 1993. However, induction of papillomas can possibly also take place without viral infection (e.g. Grizzle et al. 1984, Smith et al. 1989a). Thus, the connection between papillomatosis and environmental stress can be produced both by the stress induced impairment of the immune system of fishes and by direct carcinogenic effects of contaminants (Sano et al. 1991, 1993Lee & Whitfield 1992, Baumann et al. 1996.In the North American Great Lakes, epidermal papillomatosis has been proposed as a bioindicator of contaminated waters (Munkittrick & Dixon 1989, Baumann 1992, Premdas et al. 1995, Baumann et al. 1996. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has adopted epidermal papillomatosis in dab Limanda limanda as an indicator of environmental changes in the North Atlantic coastal areas (Bucke et al. 1996). Because new tools are required by the European Union's Water Framework Directive for determining the ecological status of lakes, we investigated the possible use of the roach-papillomatosis system in monitoring of environmental stress in Finnish waters.In contrast to prevalence, the intensity of ...

The effects of treated effluents on the intensity of papillomatosis and HSP70 expression in roach

“…The present result is in concordance with several field studies which have shown that the prevalence of papillomatosis in fish populations is increased by contaminants (Baumann, et al 1996;Hayes, et al 1990;Kortet, et al 2002;Mikaelian, et al 2000;Premdas, et al 1995;Smith, et al 1989;Vethaak, et al 1992). Most recently the connection was found between higher papillomatosis prevalence in roach populations and lake sites which were impacted by industrial and / or sewage effluents (Korkea-aho, et al 2006a). Beside the connection with effluents and fish papillomatosis found in the field studies, only Grizzle et al (1984) has studied before this connection experimentally.…”

“…Therefore, papillomatosis of fish has been proposed as an indicator of contaminated waters (e.g. Baumann, et al 1996;Korkea-aho, et al 2006a). Papilloma prevalence increased in caged black bullheads (Ictalurus melas) in final oxidation pond of domestic chlorinated wastewater (Grizzle, et al 1984).…”

“…Papillomatosis has been proposed as indicator of environmental stress, which is often caused by anthropogenic effluents in aquatic environments (Baumann, et al 1996;Korkea-aho, et al 2006a). However, experimental studies of effluent exposure effects on fish papillomatosis are rare.…”

Epidemiology of squamous cell carcinomas in rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus from SE Ireland

“…While Nunez et al (1989) discussed the higher rates of certain neoplasms in female fish due to the promoter oestradiol, Kimura et al (1984) found the prevalence of chromatophoromas in croakers Nibea mitsukurii in coastal waters in Japan to be higher in males than in females. Poulet et al (1994) found no difference between the prevalences of papillomas and carcinomas in male and female brown bullheads, but papillomatosis in roach Rutilus rutilus was 7.5 times higher in male than in females (Kortet et al 2002), a finding supported by Vainikka et al (2004) and Korkea-aho et al (2006). Among squamous cell carcinomas, Herman (1988) described enzootic squamous cell carcinomas in mature male rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax in a pond in Maine, US, and Morrison & Macdonald (1995) also reported a squamous cell carcinoma in the jaw of a male rainbow smelt O. mordax, and speculated about male hormonal influence.…”

Parasites and hystopathology of <i>Mullus barbatus</i> and <i>Citharus linguatula</i> (Pisces) from two sites in the NW Mediterranean with different degrees of pollution

“…Levels of pollutants in sentinel organisms and the responses that these pollutants trigger in individuals have been successfully used as biomarkers of pollution (Broeg et al, 1999;Handy et al, 2002;Williams and Mackenzie, 2003;Au, 2004). Histopathology has been shown to be a useful tool for detecting sublethal and chronic damage of pollution in marine organisms (Stehr et al, 1998;Bernet et al, 1999;Korkea-aho et al, 2006). Since fish parasites can reflect adverse effects of complex and variable environmental stresses (Lafferty, 1997;Landsberg et al, 1998;Lafferty and Kuris, 1999;MacKenzie, 1999;Dzikowski et al, 2003;Williams and Mackenzie, 2003), the study of fish parasite community structure has been proposed as a more sensitive indicator than the study of fishes themselves (Landsberg et al, 1998).…”