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Susceptibility to Bismuth(III) of Aquaculture Bacterial Pathogens: Effectiveness of Bismuth-Deferiprone Therapy against Vibrio anguillarum Infection in Fish

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This microbiology study tested how bismuth(III), chelated with deferiprone, affects the growth of aquaculture bacterial pathogens and whether it can treat vibriosis in farmed Senegalese sole. Minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 13 µM to more than 780 µM depending on species and strain. Injected bismuth raised survival of infected fish from 10 percent to 65 or 90 percent, and uninfected fish given a fivefold higher dose showed no deaths or apparent side effects.

Key numbers

  • Minimum inhibitory concentrations of bismuth chloride for 35 strains: 13 to more than 780 µM (Table 1, p. 3; abstract).
  • Most strains showed sharply reduced growth at 1.3 to 13 µM (abstract; p. 4).
  • Fish challenge: survival 10% on day eight without treatment, 65% with 13 µM bismuth and 90% with 1.3 µM bismuth (0.1 mL injected per fish, about 100 g fish), 25 fish per group (pp. 5 to 6, Figure 3).
  • Uninfected control fish injected with 65 µM bismuth showed no deaths or apparent side effects (p. 6).

Methods (brief)

Bismuth chloride was chelated with deferiprone (5:1 molar ratio) and added to culture media at 0.13 µM to 1 mM to determine MICs. Juvenile sole were infected intraperitoneally with Vibrio anguillarum and treated four days later by intraperitoneal injection of bismuth-deferiprone; mortality was followed for ten days and compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Evidence fitness

The study supports the observation that bismuth inhibits many aquaculture pathogens in culture and was proposed as an antibiotic alternative in fish farming, which would be a route by which bismuth could reach farmed fish. It does not support statements about bismuth residues in fish flesh, consumer exposure, or safety, because neither tissue bismuth nor chronic effects were measured, and treatment was by injection rather than feed or water.

Limitations

Single injection with short follow-up; no measurement of bismuth in fish tissue; side effects judged by observation only. The authors’ statements on bismuth’s low toxicity to humans draw on earlier literature.

Update history

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