The marine protozoan parasite Neoparamoeba perurans has been established as the causative agent for amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Freshwater bathing is the only routinely used treatment for AGD in Australia while hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is used in countries with cooler water temperatures. The identification of new treatments that do not rely on either freshwater or H₂O₂ bathing is highly sought. However, in vitro based methods for high throughput screening of antiparasitic compounds have not been established for this parasite. To this end the present study evaluated two in vitro bioassays based on metabolic energy production and cellular membrane integrity to distinguish between amoebistatic (crenated or pseudocyst forms with recovery possible) and amoebicidal (death) activity. Amoebae were subject to either freshwater, H₂O₂ or chloramine-T for 4 h treatment and assessed 24 h after recovery. Visualization by microscopy and bioassay assessment 24 h post-treatment confirmed that H₂O₂ and freshwater are 95% amoebicidal albeit due to different mechanisms of action. These data are consistent with other studies where amoebae have been observed to recover following exposure to these compounds and provide evidence for the inclusion of a recovery component to differentiate between the mechanism of action of amoebicidal and amoebistatic treatments. Together these bioassays are a critical tool for high throughput screening of novel and more effective treatments against AGD.

海洋原生动物的寄生虫新寄生虫已经被确定为大西洋鲑鱼（Salmo salar）的阿米巴ill病（AGD）的病原体。在澳大利亚，AGD是唯一常规使用的淡水处理方法，而在水温较低的国家使用过氧化氢（H ₂ O ₂）。确定不依赖淡水或H ₂ O ₂的新疗法强烈要求沐浴。但是，尚未建立用于该寄生虫的高通量筛选抗寄生虫化合物的体外方法。为此，本研究评估了两种基于代谢能产生和细胞膜完整性的体外生物测定法，以区分阿米巴生止血药（杀伤性或假性囊肿形式，有可能恢复）和杀螨活性（死亡）。将变形虫置于淡水，H ₂ O ₂或氯胺-T中处理4小时，并在恢复后24小时进行评估。处理后24小时通过显微镜和生物分析评估显示，确认了H ₂ O ₂尽管由于不同的作用机理，淡水和淡水还是95％的杀菌剂。这些数据与其他研究一致，在这些研究中，观察到变形虫会在接触这些化合物后恢复，并提供了包含恢复成分的证据，以区分杀菌和止血治疗的作用机理。这些生物测定法一起成为高通量筛选针对AGD的新型更有效治疗方法的关键工具。