Histochemical and ultrastructural analysis of pathology and cell responses in gills of channel catfish affected with proliferative gill disease.

Pond-reared channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus with proliferative gill disease (PGD), caused by the myxozoan parasite Henneguya spp., were examined with light and transmission electron microscopy to better characterize the inflammatory response during infection. The early stages of disease are characterized by the destruction of collagen in the matrix of the gill filament cartilage causing weakness and breaks within the gill filaments. These early lesions lacked a notable inflammatory response around the disrupted cartilage, a chondrocyte response was not apparent, and the parasite was not present, suggesting that the cartilage breaks occur prior to inflammation and arrival of the parasite in the gill. In later lesions, a significant inflammatory response was generated in areas of disrupted cartilage, and the inflammatory infiltrate was composed of a mixed population of granulocytes including neutrophils and cells that resembled eosinophils. The majority of eosinophil-like cells demonstrated evidence of degranulation. Trophozoites of Henneguya spp. were surrounded by a uniform population of cells believed to be neutrophils. The granulocytes were infiltrated within the dense collagen layer of the gill filament cartilage and often appeared within chondrocyte lacunae in place of the chondrocyte. The gill lamellae adjacent to the lesions were fused and contained an inflammatory infiltrate containing granulocytes and cells with pericentriolar granules that resembled previous descriptions of Langerhans-like cells. These cells were abundant within damaged lamellar epithelium, but were only rarely found within the gill filament. Lesions that appeared to be recovering lacked the dense collagenous layer around the cartilage and contained hyperplastic and hypertrophic chondrocytes that formed a callus. Other chondrocytes in the lesions had ultrastructural features indicative of cell death.