ELDORES SULA, VALBONA ALIKO
1*Department of Nurse and Physiotherapy, Aldent University, Tirana, Albania
2Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana, Albania
**Corresponding author E-mail: eldoressula@info.al
Abstract
Stress is an event that most animals experience and that, induces a number of responses involving all three regulatory systems, neural, endocrine and immune. Fish cultures are especially at risk to the adverse effects of stress. Blood chemistry and hematological measurements can provide valuable physiological indices that may offer critical feedback on different stressors. Blood samples were collected from the caudal vein of Carassius carassius after subjected to stressors and parameters such as plasma cortisol and glucose levels were estimated. Also, immunological response through neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio were evaluated. The responses of C. carassius to stress were characterized by rapid and transient significant increases in glucose, hemoglobin, hematocrit, as well as an equally dramatic but delayed increase in cortisol levels. High ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes (N: L) in blood fish were found, which reliably is related with high glucocorticoid levels. Our results strongly indicate the close relationship between stress hormones and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, concluding that N: L ratio and its relation with glucocorticoid hormones can provide a reliable method to study responses of fish to stress.
Key words: stress, plasma cortisol, glucose, immunological response, neutrophil, lymphocyte.
