Plasma ladderlectin concentration following sterile inflammation and Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida infection

Plasma samples obtained from rainbow trout either experimentally infected with Aeromonas salmonicida or injected with either A. salmonicida lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or a commercial A. salmonicida vaccine (Lipogen) were analysed by enzyme immunoassay to evaluate changes in rainbow trout ladderlectin (RTLL) concentrations during the acute phase response (APR). Plasma RTLL concentrations in fish injected with A. salmonicida LPS, vaccine or live A. salmonicida varied over a 10 day period, but did not significantly increase. In contrast, fish experimentally infected with A. salmonicida exhibited a modest, but statistically significant ( P  <   0.05), decrease in RTLL concentration. These studies demonstrate that RTLL is not detectably induced during the trout APR to sterile inflammation or A. salmonicida infection, but plasma concentration of this protein may be reduced during bacterial infection.