Histological evaluation of soya bean-induced enteritis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.): Quantitative image analysis vs. semi-quantitative visual scoring

This paper describes a first broad-scale application of quantitative image analysis to the assessment of nutritionally-induced soya bean enteritis in farmed Atlantic salmon. It employs a novel multivariate approach for the histomorphometric analysis of biopsy samples and directly compares the prognostic value of such a quantitative approach against that of a semi-quantitative visual scoring system. This study provides evidence that most of the quantitative indices selected, perform equally well when compared to analogous semi-quantitative descriptive parameters normally used to assess soya bean-induced enteritis seen in Atlantic salmon. The high reproducibility and accuracy of this approach indicate that image analysis can provide a useful and reliable method for the quantification of SB-induced enteritis and by extension, for other facets of gut plasticity/histopathology. Other characteristics of this approach, such as rapidity, simplicity and adaptability similarly favour the use of image analysis, and are particularly useful where less experienced interpreters are performing the analysis. The quantitative assessment system outlined here, clearly identifies soya bean-associated enteropathy in experimental fish, and may thus be recommended for evaluation of related variations in salmon intestinal histomorphology. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.