Inter-Research > DAO > v43 > n1 > p61-69  
DAO
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

via Mailchimp

DAO 43:61-69 (2000)  -  doi:10.3354/dao043061

Rodlet cells and other inflammatory cells of Phoxinus phoxinus infected with Raphidascaris acus (Nematoda)

Bahram Sayyaf Dezfuli1,*, Edi Simoni1, Remigio Rossi1, Maurizio Manera2

1Department of Biology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari, 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
2Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, 64020 Nepezzano, Teramo, Italy

ABSTRACT: Rodlet cells (RCs), and other inflammatory cells, namely eosinophile granule cells (EGCs), eosinophilic granulocytes and epithelioid cells in the liver, pancreas and peritoneal serosa of uninfected and naturally parasitized minnow Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758), were studied by light and electron microscopy. Forty-eight minnows were examined and in 18 fishes encysted larvae of the nematode Raphidascaris acus (Bloch, 1779) were encountered, mainly in the pancreas. The number of larvae in the latter organ ranged from 2 to 46. Nematode larvae were encapsulated by epithelioid granulomata, and these cells displayed typical epithelial characteristics such as desmosomes and tonofilaments. EGCs and RCs characteristically surrounded the reactive foci and were suggestive of an integrated inflammatory network involving both cell types. In many instances RCs were noticed at the periphery of the pancreas, beneath the peritoneal serosa, partially or entirely surrounded by mesothelial cells. In the latter situation partially damaged RCs were present in the splancnic cavity entirely surrounded but not truly phagocytized (no phagolysosome occurred) by mesothelial cells, which shared the same ultrastructural features of epithelioid cells. This phenomenon has never been described and may represent a peculiar turnover of RCs in the pancreas likely related to the high sensitivity to damage. A significant difference (p < 0.01) in the number of RCs between uninfected and parasitized fish was noticed in the liver and pancreas. The data suggest that RCs represent an inflammatory cell type closely linked to other piscine inflammatory cells, such as EGCs, epithelioid cells and mesothelial cells.


KEY WORDS: Rodlet cells · Inflammatory cells · Phoxinus phoxinus · Helminth infection · Ultrastructure


Full text in pdf format
 Previous article Next article