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Fish and flavonoids

Objetivo

With the recent ban on the use of compounds such as malachite green in food fish production, there is an urgent need to find suitable efficacious compounds to control certain fish pathogens. There is also a need to improve fish health and reduce the dependency on drugs by assessing the utility of natural products as possible replacements. One potential group, the bio-flavonoids, comprise a vast array of biologically active compounds that are ubiquitous in plants. They display an incredible array of biochemic al and pharmacological actions (anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-viral & anti-carcinogenic).

Their use in human and veterinary medicine (e.g. to control viruses in HIV/AIDS patients, in the study of coronary and circulatory disease and, as a topical spray to control MRSA in hospitals) is being actively researched. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known of the action of bioflavonoids on the immune system of fish. The project will assess the efficacy of selected bioflavonoids, as potential biocides and immuno-stimulants, in their ability to control bacterial and protozoan parasitic infections following experimental challenge.

The project will screen a large number of bioflavonoids in vitro against several main fish pathogens to assess their biocidal activity before testing the most promising candidates in vivo to ascertain if they also have an immunostimulatory effect. The pathogens that will be screened include the pathogenic bacteriums Vibrio anguillarum, Aeromonas hydrophila and Renibact erium salmoninarum, the causative agent of Bacterial Kidney Disease, a notifiable fish pathogen within Europe.

Their efficacy against the parasitic protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis one of the most pathogenic diseases of freshwater fishes will also be tested. Examining complex interactions between food intake and the metabolism of bioflavonoids in the control of pathogens of fish and their effect on the immune system will make a significant contribution.

Convocatoria de propuestas

FP6-2002-MOBILITY-7
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Coordinador

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING.
Aportación de la UE
Sin datos
Dirección

STIRLING
Reino Unido

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Enlaces
Coste total
Sin datos