Predicting the Impact of Poor Nutritional Status on Immune Function in Striped

Chesapeake Bay striped bass (Morone saxatilis) began to exhibit evidence of nutritional deficiencies and disease in the late 1990s. This study seeks to determine the likely impact of poor nutrition on the immunological function of striped bass, thereby providing evidence for a linkage between diet deficiencies and disease. One hundred wild striped bass were collected and acclimated in flow-through tanks for 5 weeks. Fish were fed a diet of cut Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) at either a 1.5% bw/day control ration or a 0.15% bw/day starvation ration for 9 weeks. Proximate analysis was used to measure the nutritional status of the fish over the course of the experiment. Phagocytitic activity and reactive oxygen species production of splenic phagocytes was analyzed using in vitro assays to determine the effect of reduced nutrition on these key components of innate immunity. Phagocyte performance was compared to the nutritional status of the fish in order to determine the likely impact of poor nutrition on disease resistance and to develop possible bench marks for moisture and lipid that likely reflect impairment of immunity in wild fish.