Electron microscopic study of the peritoneal macrophages of rats with chronic fascioliasis and the carcinogenic effect of diethylnitrosamine.

The ultrastructure of peritoneal macrophages of rats with chronic fascioliasis and the carcinogenic effect of diethylnitrosamine (DENA) were studied. The phagocytic activity of macrophages on Staphylococcus aureus were examined in its dynamics (in the 1st, 5th and 24th h). The ultrastructural changes of the macrophages were the most pronounced in animals injected eight times with DENA and the weakest in the group of animals infected twice with Fasciola hepatica. As to the phagocytic activity of the macrophages the following events were observed: attraction and adhesion of the bacterial cells to the surface of the macrophages, their inclusion in phagosomes; partial to full lysis of the bacteria; and formation of residual bodies. The phagocytosis was the most active in macrophages obtained from animals infected twice with Fasciola hepatica and the weakest in those from the DENA-treated animals.