Halftime seminar: "Coronary arteriosclerosis in farmed salmonids"

Opponent at the seminar is Henrik Sundh, and examiner is Kristina Snuttan Sundell, both at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Heidi's main supervisor is Erik Sandblom with Andreas Ekström (BioEnv), Albin Gräns (SLU), Lucas Zena (Nofima), Ida Johansen (NMBU), Helene Wisløff (Pharmaq Analytiq) and Amanda Vang (Firum) as co-upervisors.

Short summary

In recent years, farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) have shown a marked increase in mortality during the later stages of seawater production, particularly following stress-inducing events such as delousing. These elevated mortality rates pose a growing concern for the global aquaculture industry, raising critical questions about fish welfare, economic viability, and the long-term sustainability of salmon farming.

While the causes of late-stage mortality are likely multifactorial, growing evidence suggests that coronary arteriosclerosis, a condition that involves a stiffening and thickening of the coronary arteries, restricting blood flow to the myocardium (heart muscle), may play a key role. In salmonids, the coronary circulation is essential for delivering oxygen-rich blood to the outer compact myocardium, especially during periods of elevated metabolic demand. Restricted blood flow to the myocardium can therefore impair cardiac performance and represents a significant risk factor underlying myocardial infarction, heart failure and death.