Macrophage Agregates in Brook Barbel Barbus Cf. Peloponnesius Spleen as Indicators of Environmental Polution

Abstract

Changes in fish macrophage aggregate centres (MACs) are a useful indicator of environmental stress. In this study we evaluated stereologically the values of these cells in the polluted sites compared to the clean site in the River Bregalnica. MACs aggregates were randomly distributed in spleen and often showed irregular form. Dominant pigment in them was hemosiderin. Relative volume of MACs aggregates showed significant higher value in brook barbel from polluted site. Total volume showed the same pattern, but differences were not significant. Our data confirm that increase in MACs aggregates may serve as to warn on potential pollution in aquatic ecosystems. However, the precaution is strongly suggested, as results were based on quantitative approach.

Effects of heavy metal pollution on pigmented macrophages in kidney of Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensisKaraman)

“…Numerous investigators have documented increase in MACs number, size, and/or pigment density in organs of fish with poor health, pathogen conditions (Agius, 1979;Elston et al, 1997;Roberts, 1975) or as a response to various environmental contaminants in field and/or laboratory studies (Agius & Roberts, 2003;Blazer, Wolke, Brown, & Powell, 1987;Blazer et al, 1994Blazer et al, , 1997Broeg, 2003;Couillard & Hodson, 1996;Elston et al, 1997;Facey, Blazer, Gasper, & Turcotte, 2005;Fenoglio et al, 2005;Fournie, Summers, Courtiney, & Engle, 2001;Jordanova, Rebok, Naskovska, & Kostov, 2016b;Schwindt et al, 2006Schwindt et al, , 2008Wolke, 1992). Data on influence of heavy metals on MACs also exist, but according to our knowledge they are scarce (Blazer et al, 1997;Jasim, 2008;Kurtović, Teskere zić, & Teskere zić, 2008;Mela et al, 2007;Rabitto et al, 2005;Reddy, 2012;Suresh, 2009;Vinodhini & Narayanan, 2009) and although they are mainly quantitative in nature, different researchers examined different portions of kidney and/or different MACs parameters, making the comparison of the results practically impossible.…”

Quantitative analysis of the pigment composition of macrophage aggregates in the spleen of chub (Squalius cephalus L., 1758) from the river Crn Drim. Influence of sex and season

“…fitness (Blazer et al 1987). For cyprinid fish, BW and TL are mainly in a positive correlation (Krüger et al 1996;Jordanova et al 2016aJordanova et al , 2016b. The results for BW and TL in this research are leaning towards higher values for the S-S season which corresponds with the spawning season of the chub.…”

“…To our knowledge, there are studies only for histopathology of the liver of Chondrostoma ochridanus (Velkova-Jordanoska et al 2012), hepatic capillariasis in barbel (Barbus rebeli Koller, 1926) (Jordanova et al 2018a) and accumulation of heavy metals in some organs in barbell and chub (Squalius squalus Bonaparte, 1837) (Jordanova et al 2018b). However, there are extremely scarce amount of studies which examined quantitative influence of endogenous factors as sex and season on spleen MACs (Rebok 2006;Jordanova et al 2006Jordanova et al , 2016bRebok et al 2015). Therefore, this study represents the first attempt to quantify the splenic MACs from the chub inhabiting the river Crn Drim in order to establish the normal variations of amount of MACs as well as their pigment composition.…”

“…Although the pollutants in the water might be within allowed concentrations, their effect can be harmful to organisms due to the effect of bioconcentration and biomagnification through the food chain (Katagi, 2010). Also, the accumulation of the pollutants can be conditioned by many factors (Katagi 2010;Jordanova et al 2016aJordanova et al , 2016b. These types of environmental threats are the reason for the need of establishing biomarkers sensitive to the early signs of aquatic pollution (Agius 1985;Rebok et al 2015).…”

“…The use of macrophage aggregates (MACs) as potential biomarkers for health monitoring of wild fish populations was suggested based on the idea that the increase in the number, area and the pigment content in the MACs, may be caused by changes in the environment (Wolke et al 1985). Researches had shown that the number of MACs can vary in relation to the size, nutritional, reproductive status or the health of the fish (Wolke et al 1985;Agius & Roberts 2003;Rebok et al 2015;Jordanova et al 2016b). For example, it is confirmed that the number and size of MACs in fish is growing with the aging and starving, as well as with increased susceptibility to disease (Wolke et al 1985;Agius & Roberts 2003).…”