Acanthocephalus Lucii
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Sayyaf Dezfuli et al. Parasites & Vectors (2018) 11:424 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-018-3002-6 RESEARCH Open Access Pike intestinal reaction to Acanthocephalus lucii (Acanthocephala): immunohistochemical and ultrastructural surveys Bahram Sayyaf Dezfuli1*, Luisa Giari1, Massimo Lorenzoni2, Antonella Carosi2, Maurizio Manera3 and Giampaolo Bosi4 Abstract Background: The Northern pike, Esox lucius, is a large, long-lived, top-predator fish species and occupies a broad range of aquatic environments. This species is on its way to becoming an important model organism and has the potential to contribute new knowledge and a better understanding of ecology and evolutionary biology. Very few studies have been done on the intestinal pathology of pike infected with helminths. The present study details the first Italian record of adult Acanthocephalus lucii reported in the intestine of E. lucius. Results: A total of 22 pike from Lake Piediluco (Central Italy) were examined, of which 16 (72.7%) were infected with A. lucii. The most affected areas of gastrointestinal tract were the medium and distal intestine. The intensity of infection ranged from 1 to 18 parasites per host. Acanthocephalus lucii penetrated mucosal and submucosal layers which had a high number of mast cells (MCs) with an intense degranulation. The cellular elements involved in the immune response within the intestine of pike were assessed by ultrastructural techniques and immunohistochemistry using antibodies against met-enkephalin, immunoglobulin E (IgE)-like receptor (FCεRIγ), histamine, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, substance P, lysozyme, serotonin, inducible-nitric oxide synthase (i-NOS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and the antimicrobial peptide piscidin 3 (P3). In intestines of the pike, several MCs were immunopositive to 9 out of the 11 aforementioned antibodies and infected fish had a higher number of positive MCs when compared to uninfected fish. Conclusions: Pike intestinal tissue response to A. lucii was documented. Numerous MCs were seen throughout the mucosa and submucosal layers. In infected and uninfected intestines of pike, MCs were the dominant immune cell type encountered;theyarethemostcommongranulocytetypeinvolved in several fish-helminth systems. Immunopositivity of MCs to 9 out of 11 antibodies is of great interest and these cells could play an important key role in the host response to an enteric helminth. This is the first report of A. lucii in an Italian population of E. lucius and the first account on positivity of MCs to piscidin 3 and histamine in a non-perciform fish. Keywords: Fish, Esox lucius, Inflammation, Helminth, Acanthocephalus lucii, Mast cells, Piscidin 3, Histamine * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, St. Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Sayyaf Dezfuli et al. Parasites & Vectors (2018) 11:424 Page 2 of 12 Background The Northern pike is a large, long-lived, top-predator The gut mucosal surface in vertebrates is a complex or- fish species and occupies a broad range of aquatic envi- ganized system that comprises epithelium, immune cells ronments and it has the potential to be studied as an im- and the resident bacterial community [1, 2]. In teleosts, portant model organism for fish-parasite systems. The the skin, gills, urogenital system and gut are the princi- present investigation utilized immunohistochemical and pal mucosal surfaces and represent the first line of ultrastructural analysis to ascertain the presence and na- defense [3]. Intestinal helminths have an important im- ture of the immune cells in pike intestine infected with pact on the structure, function and neural control of the Acanthocephalus lucii (Müller, 1776) Lühe, 1911 and digestive tract of a host [4–7]. It is known that gut in- molecules involved in different functions of the fish di- flammation and activation of the enteric neuroimmune gestive tract. axis has an integral role in the interaction between host Particular emphasis has been placed on the defensive and parasite that occurs at the mucosal surface [8]. chemicals that might be expressed in the MCs. This is Among enteric parasites of fish, digenetic trematodes first account on MCs positive to P3 and histamine in a and some cestodes, due to their shallow penetration into non-perciform species. the host tissues, induce only a limited amount of damage and consequently a slight immune response. Conversely, Methods most acanthocephalans induce much more severe dam- Animals age and elicit an intense host inflammatory reaction. De- The digestive tracts of 22 Esox lucius [total length ± SD tailed effects of helminths on the digestive tract of fishes (standard deviation) 68.2 ± 14.77 cm; weight ± SD are extensively reviewed elsewhere by Dezfuli et al. [9]. 2620.45 ± 2254.72 g] were analyzed from fish collected An increase in abundance, recruitment and migration of in one gill net sample (May 2017) taken in Lake Piedi- innate immune cells is a common phenomenon due to luco (Province of Terni, central Italy) by professional intestinal helminth infection [9, 10]. Neutrophils are the fishermen belonging to the local fishing consortium. first type cell which arrives at the site of infection, in the initial acute inflammatory phase, whilst other cells such Histology and electron microscopy as monocytes and macrophages are recruited succes- The pike were anaesthetized with 125 mg l-1 MS222 sively in the chronic inflammation. Tissue mast cells (tricaine methanesulphonate, Sandoz, Basel, Switzerland), (MCs) are normally present in peripheral tissue accord- followed by severing the spinal cord. Dissection, embed- ing to each anatomical district and they may replicate ding and cutting were performed according to routine and/or be recruited in chronic inflammation [10]. The methods reported in Dezfuli et al. [19]. The sections host immune cells are able to phagocytize and/or secrete (5 μm thick) were stained with either Giemsa, alcian compounds necessary to coordinate an appropriate blue 8 GX pH 2.5 and periodic acid Schiff’s (AB/PAS), defense response. haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), AB/H&E and photo- In infected and uninfected intestines of the Northern graphed using a Nikon Microscope Eclipse 80i (Nikon, pike (Esox lucius), MCs were the dominant immune cell Tokyo, Japan). type. In all vertebrates, MCs are strategically positioned For electron microscopical examinations, representa- at perivascular sites [11–13] to regulate inflammatory re- tive pieces of pike infected-uninfected intestine were sponses and this places them in a unique position to en- fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer counter invading organisms and orchestrate a response for 3 h at 4 °C. Embedding and staining have been done [14–16]. They are the most common granulocyte type following routine techniques (see [19]). involved in several fish-helminth systems [7, 17–19]. The histochemical and functional heterogeneity of MCs Immunohistochemistry and cell counts is well described and accepted especially in mammals Sections (4–6 μm) were re-hydrated and incubated in a [20, 21]. Nevertheless, important insights have recently humid chamber for 20 min with 3% H2O2 in been obtained in our understanding on contents of MCs in Tris-buffered saline pH 7.6 (TBS: 0.05 M Tris-HCl, 0.15 fish. It was noticed that MCs react to parasites with the re- M NaCl) to block endogenous peroxidase. Slides used lease of their contents by degranulation [7, 9, 18, 22, 23]. for the detection of the rabbit polyclonal anti-TNF-α Indeed, degranulation of MCs was assessed experimentally; antibody were heated 2 × 5 min in microwave at 500 W compound 48/80 induces concentration-dependent intes- in 0.01 M citrate buffer pH 6.0 for antigen retrieval. tinal contraction in rainbow trout [24, 25]. The granules of After a 2 × 5 min washing step in TBS containing 0.1% fish MCs contain a panel of inflammatory mediators [26] Triton X-100 (TBS-T), slides were treated for 30 min and several other molecules including serotonin [27, 28], with 1:20 goat normal serum or with 1:20 rabbit normal histamine [29, 30], mucopolysaccharides with residues of serum depending on the host species in which the used α-N-acetyl-galactosamine [31]andpiscidins[32–35]. primary antibody was produced (see Table 1). This step Sayyaf Dezfuli et al. Parasites & Vectors (2018) 11:424 Page 3 of 12 Table 1 Antibodies used in the present study, their species specificity, source and dilution. The slides were incubated for 24 h at room temperature for each antibody. Slides treated with anti-TNF-α antibody were previously heated by 2 × 5 min microwave cycles at 500 W in 0.01 M citrate buffer pH 6.0 for unmasking antigene, as indicated in the data sheet of this antibody Antibody anti- Specificity Source Code Dilution Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-like receptor FcεRIγ Mouse, monoclonal