Abstract:
Epidermal mucus serves as a physiological and immunological first line
of defense to maintain normal physiological status in Teleost fish. It offers
protection against pathogenic infections and environmental contaminants.
The ability of mucus as a protector depends on its bioactive components,
such as high-molecular-weight glycoproteins, lysozyme, alkaline
phosphatase, immunoglobulin, complement proteins, C-reactive proteins,
lectins, agglutinin, interferon, vitellogenin, proteases, antimicrobial proteins,
antimicrobials peptides, calmodulin, crinotoxins, pheromone, cytokines,
acute-phase proteins, carbonic anhydrase, hemolysin, serotransferrin, heat
shock proteins, superoxide dismutase, and pentraxins. Cortisol, glucose,
lactic acids, reactive oxygen species, and cellular antioxidants were also
detected in the epidermal mucus and have the potential as stress biomarkers.
Aside from its potential as a biological matrix to assess the immunity and
health status of fish, epidermal mucus also serves as an ecotoxicological
biomonitoring tool by detecting biochemical biomarkers responses that
arise. We encourage future studies to assess the potentials of the epidermal
mucus biological activity using the proteomics approach, given the diversity
of fish species. Knowledge about fish health and welfare is important for
the conservation and preservation of species biodiversity.
Keywords:
Fish skin mucus,
Mucus bioactivities,
Mucosal barrier,
Mucosal immunity,
Mucosal biomarker,
Non-invasive biomarker,
Stress
