African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (22), pp. 2350-2353, 16 November 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Ultrastuctural study of the phagocytic activities of splenic macrophages in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

 Samuel Adewumi AGBEDE¹, Olanike Kudirat ADEYEMO¹*, Olufemi Bolarinwa ADEDEJI¹, Abdulkadir Usman JUNAID²

¹Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

²Department of Veterinary Public Health and Animal Production, Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: olanikeadeyemo@hotmail.com. Tel: +234-805-545-45440.

Accepted 27 May, 2006

The main stages of the phagocytic process after the intraperitoneal injection of colloidal carbon to tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), was ultra-structurally documented. Carbon particles were initially in diffuse form in the cytoplasm but they gradually formed discrete electron dense bodies that later fused with cytoplasmic granules to form phagolysosomes. Ultra structural results demonstrate that colloidal carbon is actively phagocytized by cytoplasmic granules (lysosomes) in the spleen of O. niloticus. Direct phagocytic reaction of cells in the presence of an antigen is therefore very important in immunity.

Key words: Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, ultrastructure, colloidal carbon, phagocytic activities.