The zebrafish is a widely used animal model in biomedical research. Despite this, pathogens continue to be common in laboratory zebrafish. It is important to determine and describe the pathophysiology of cryptic infections on zebrafish to elucidate the impacts on experimental endpoints. Body condition is a basic measurement used experimentally and in health monitoring of animals. We exposed three wild-type zebrafish strains: AB, WIK, and 5D to Pseudoloma neurophilia. After 8 weeks postexposure, we individually imaged and processed fish for histology. Morphometric analysis was performed on images and an index of body condition was calculated based on the ratio of length/width from the dorsal aspect. Histological sections from each fish were examined to establish sex, severity of infection, and tissue distribution. We observed a significant decrease in body condition in female fish that was not observed in males. In addition, we observed a negative correlation between the total gonadal area of P. neurophilia exposed females and unexposed controls. These results illustrate the sex-specific impacts of a common chronic pathogen on zebrafish health and a commonly used experimental endpoint, further supporting the establishment of rigorous health monitoring programs in laboratory zebrafish colonies that include screening for chronic infectious diseases.

中文翻译：

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伪神经瘤嗜神经性感染对斑马鱼身体状况的影响。

斑马鱼是生物医学研究中广泛使用的动物模型。尽管如此，病原体在实验室斑马鱼中仍然很常见。确定和描述斑马鱼隐性感染的病理生理机制对阐明对实验终点的影响非常重要。身体状况是用于实验和动物健康监测的基本指标。我们将三种野生型斑马鱼菌株：AB，WIK和5D暴露于假性假神经瘤。暴露后8周，我们分别对鱼进行了成像和处理以进行组织学检查。对图像进行形态分析，并根据背侧的长/宽比计算身体状况指标。检查每条鱼的组织学切片以确定性别，感染的严重程度和组织分布。我们观察到雌鱼的身体状况显着下降，而雄鱼则没有。此外，我们观察到嗜神经性疟原虫的总性腺面积之间呈负相关暴露的雌性和未暴露的对照。这些结果说明了常见的慢性病原体对斑马鱼健康和普遍使用的实验终点的性别特异性影响，进一步支持了实验室斑马鱼殖民地建立严格的健康监测计划，其中包括筛查慢性传染病。