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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Intravital Microscopy of the Spleen: Quantitative Analysis of Parasite Mobility and Blood Flow
Published on: January 14, 2012
The spleen pigment cells in some amphibia
Marina Scalia1, Cinzia Di Pietro, Mariangela Poma
1Dipartimento di Scienze biomediche, Sezione di Biologia generale, cellulare e di Genetica molecolare, Università di Catania, Catania, Italy.
Abstract:
It was demonstrated that the spleen pigment cells of Amphibia are macrophages: they show an ultrastructurally distinctive morphology, are able to phagocytose and react positively for non-specific esterases. These pigmented macrophages express mRNA for tyrosinase and also they show dopa oxidase activity; therefore they are able to synthesize melanins, as Kupffer cells do.
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