Expression of immune-related genes in goldfish gills induced by Dactylogyrus intermedius infections

Dactylogyrus intermedius, an oviparous monogenean parasite, is regarded as a devastating pathogen in freshwater aquaculture and ornamental fish trade, and accounts for significant economic losses worldwide. The study was undertaken to determine the differential expression of immune-related genes TNFα1, TNFα2, IL-1β2, TGFβ, iNOSa and iNOSb in goldfish gills during D. intermedius infection by real-time quantitative PCR. The results show that the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β2, TNFα1 and TNFα2) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine (TGFβ) were up-regulated at day 7 p.i. (post infection). The mRNA levels of these cytokines returned to normal levels or were down-regulated at day 21 p.i. In the cases of iNOSa and iNOSb, a significant up-regulation in iNOSa transcription levels were seen at day 14 p.i. while the expression of iNOSb gene showed a distinct up-regulation at day 7 p.i. Additionally, this study was conducted to investigate the expression of immune-related genes in different degrees of goldfish experimentally infected with the monogenean D. intermedius. The results indicated that D. intermedius infection might regulate the fish immunity by showing differential expression levels of immune-related gene. The study confirms goldfish gill acts as an important source of inflammatory molecules, as well as an active modulator of local inflammation after initially infected with D. intermedius. Moreover, the results obtained in this study could be useful towards understanding the susceptibility of goldfish to D. intermedius and mechanisms involved in protection of goldfish to ectoparasitic infections.