The impact of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae and Myxobolus cerebralis co-infections on pathology in rainbow trout

BACKGROUND: Myxozoan parasites pose emerging health issues for wild and farmed salmonid fish. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a particularly susceptible species to Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae (Malacosporea), the etiological agent of Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD), and to Myxobolus cerebralis (Myxosporea), the etiological agent of Whirling Disease (WD). The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of myxozoan co-infections on the pathogenesis of PKD and WD in the rainbow trout. METHODS: Two groups of rainbow trout (96 fish each) were primarily infected with T. bryosalmonae and triactinomyxons of M. cerebralis; after 30 days half of the fish in each group were co-infected with these parasites vice versa and remaining half was continued as single infection. Mortalities and clinical signs were recorded at different time points. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry were performed to assess the extent of each infection and estimate the parasite burden between groups. RESULTS: Fish firstly infected with M. cerebralis and co-infected with T. bryosalmonae exhibited exacerbated pathological changes of both parasitic diseases and elicited a higher mortality rate. A higher kidney swelling index (grade 4) appeared together with more severe cartilage destruction and displacement, when compared to the pathological changes in fish upon single infections with T. bryosalmonae or M. cerebralis. Conversely, fish firstly infected with T. bryosalmonae and co-infected with M. cerebralis also exhibited typical pathological changes of both parasitic diseases, but with a lower mortality rate, similar as caused by the single T. bryosalmonae or M. cerebralis infection. WD clinical signs were milder, without skeletal deformities, while kidney swelling index was similar to single infection with T. bryosalmonae (grade 2 to 3). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a co-infection with myxozoan parasites was for the first time successfully achieved in the laboratory under controlled conditions. The impact of co-infections in concurrent myxozoan infections mainly depends on the primary pathogen infecting the host, which could alter the outcomes of the secondary pathogen infection. The primary M. cerebralis infection followed by T. bryosalmonae had a much more serious impact and elicited a synergistic interaction. Contrasting results were instead seen in rainbow trout primarily infected with T. bryosalmonae and then co-infected with M. cerebralis.