CORTISOL AND HSP70 IN SEA BASS (DICENTRARCHUS LABRAX, L.) SUBMITTED TO DIFFERENT PRE-SLAUGHTER CONDITIONS

摘要

Pre-slaughter conditions represent a management stress in farmed fish which should be avoided not only for ethical reasons but also because it can negatively influence the product quality (Poli et al., 2005). In fish, an increase in production of plasma cortisol has been widely employed as a quantitative measure of stress but recently it has been demonstrated that this steroid is detectable even in alternative matrices such as mucus, intestinal content and muscle (Simontacchi et al., 2008). In addition, molecular indicators such as heat shock proteins 70 (HSP70) have been utilized to evaluate stress conditions (Yamashita et al., 2004; Poltronieri et al., 2007). The present study investigated the changes in cortisol (in plasma, mucus, muscle and fin), and inducible HSP70 in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L) submitted to different pre-slaughter stress conditions.