A histological study of the response of the interrenal cells of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) to treatment with sodium lauryl sulphate

Treatment of goldfish (Carassius auratus) with sub-lethal concentrations of an anionic detergent sodium lauryl sulphate for 1, 2 or 4 weeks produced histological changes in the interrenal (steroidogenic) cells of the head kidney which are indicative of a cellular activation. Significant increases in both the nuclear diameter of these cells and the number of nucleoli contained in the nuclei occurred after 1 week's treatment, although these effects were more pronounced after 2 and 4 weeks. There were little associated alterations in chromaffin cell activity. Preliminary experiments with another pollutant, zinc sulphate, suggest that it exerts a similar action to sodium lauryl sulphate on the interrenal cells. It is suggested the increases in corticosteroid production which occur after exposure of fish to sub-lethal concentrations of pollutants may be important in the development of a generalized disease syndrome and to the long-term success of fish populations.