Biological markers of macrophage activation: applications for fish phagocytes.

The immune defence mechanisms of fish seem to be related and similarly competent to those of mammals. Because of this, there is an increased interest in the immune responses of fish as models for higher vertebrates in immunological/immunotoxicological studies. Macrophages (M phi), phagocytic cells of the mammalian and teleost immune system which reside in tissues, represent a quiescent population of cells. However, upon stimulation, alterations in the physiology of these resident M phi occur which can be defined in terms of activation. This study was undertaken to determine whether biological markers used to assess mammalian M phi activation are applicable for use with fish M phi. Cells were recovered from the peritoneal cavity of non-injected and Aeromonas salmonicida-injected fish, and differences between resident and elicited M phi were evaluated with respect to protein content, phagocytic competence, enzyme activities and hydrogen peroxide production. Results demonstrate that biological markers used to assess mammalian M phi activation, with the exception of acid phosphatase activity, can be used to characterize the activation state of trout M phi, and that the activation process in both fish and mammals may occur by similar mechanism(s).