Development of an in vitro environmental monitoring system by using immune cells

Phagocytic abilities between casein-induced Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat macrophage and kidney macrophage of fish were compared. First of all, latex bead phagocytosis abilities of macrophages from rat and fish by the same water sample were compared. In vitro exposure of the water samples to the induced SD rat macrophages for 4 hr at concentrations ranging from 10 x to 80 x of the water sample reduced the latex bead phagocytosis of the macrophages with concentration dependency. This result was similar with that of the head kidney macrophages from Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus. The most important advantage of using rat macrophage is its availability, because it is very hard to catch resident fishes in highly polluted rivers, and it is almost impossible to determine the extent of biological crisis in the river. These critical difficulties of previous monitoring systems could be solved by the application of casein-induced SD rat macrophages. With the above result, rat macrophage was used to investigate the acute toxicity of polluted water samples and compare pollution levels of the Kumho, Kum and Mankyung Rivers and Miho Creek in the southern part of Korea. Finally, it was confirmed that the in vitro monitoring system for exposure of SD rat macrophage to polluted water samples was available for environmental monitoring purposes.