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Treatment of ichthyophthiriasis with photodynamically active chlorophyllin

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Abstract

Water-soluble chlorophyll (chlorophyllin) exerts pronounced photodynamic activity on fish parasites. In order to determine its potential as a remedy against ectoparasites in fish carps were incubated in water with defined concentrations of chlorophyllin. The main focus of the experiments was on the ciliate Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Fouquet) which is responsible for considerable losses in livestock in aquaculture. As malachite green, which in the past efficiently cured infected fishes, is banned because of its possible carcinogenicity; no effective remedy is presently available in aquaculture to treat ichthyophthiriasis. Using chlorophyllin, the number of trophonts was significantly reduced (more than 50 %) after 3 h incubation of infested fish at 2 and 4 mg/L and subsequent irradiation with simulated solar radiation. The lack of reinfection after light treatment indicates that also the remaining parasites have lost their multiplication capacity. In the controls (no chlorophyllin and no light, light but no chlorophyllin, or chlorophyllin but no light), no reduction of the I. multifiliis infection was observed. We propose that chlorophyllin (or other photodynamic substances) is a possible effective countermeasure against I. multifiliis and other ectoparasites in aquaculture.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau (FKZ 08OE040). The authors thank S. Wohllebe for her excellent work during the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Cell Biology, FAU, Neue Straße 9, Möhrendorf, Germany

    D.-P. Häder

  2. Developmental Biology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    J. Schmidl

  3. Zoological Institute, University Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    R. Hilbig

  4. Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture, Institute for Fisheries, Starnberg, Germany

    M. Oberle & H. Wedekind

  5. Department of Biology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    P. R. Richter

Authors
  1. D.-P. Häder
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  2. J. Schmidl
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  3. R. Hilbig
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  4. M. Oberle
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  5. H. Wedekind
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  6. P. R. Richter
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Correspondence to D.-P. Häder.

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Häder, DP., Schmidl, J., Hilbig, R. et al. Treatment of ichthyophthiriasis with photodynamically active chlorophyllin. Parasitol Res 115, 1509–1517 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4884-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4884-2

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