Distribution of radiolabeled erythrocytes and the effect of temperature on clearance in the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.).

The removal of carbon and turbot erythrocytes (TRBC) from the circulation of plaice, acclimated for 7 days at temperatures between 5 and 19 degrees C, revealed similar biphasic clearance patterns with up to 90% of particles removed over the first 30 min. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of clearance over this wide temperature range. Organ localization of 51Cr-labeled TRBC at 12 degrees C revealed the kidney and spleen as the main phagocytic organs. Carbon-blockade experiments resulted in a significant depression of subsequent 51Cr-TRBC uptake by the kidney, although the spleen was unaffected. In the plaice there was no compensatory organ uptake, such as by the spleen in blockaded mammals, and particles persisted in the circulation.