The Nuuk harbor is the largest industrial port in Greenland. It is polluted by a number of contaminants including tributyltin (TBT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Here we analyzed melanomacrophage center (MMC) responses in the spleen and kidney of shorthorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus scorpius) from the harbor and three reference sites in Nuuk, West Greenland. The number and area of splenic MMCs in fish from the most polluted station were significantly lower than those from the less polluted stations (p < 0.01). This suggests that the immune response differed between the fish from the contaminated site and those from the reference sites. This indicates that splenic MMCs of shorthorn sculpins could have a biomarker potential for pollutant exposure. This was, however, not the case for renal MMCs. In addition, this study showed that there were effects of body size on the splenic and renal MMC responses. Therefore, in future studies, body size of shorthorn sculpins needs to be considered when investigating splenic and renal MMC responses.

努克港是格陵兰最大的工业港口。它受到多种污染物的污染，包括三丁基锡 (TBT)、多氯联苯 (PCB) 和多环芳烃 (PAH)。在这里，我们分析了来自港口和西格陵兰岛努克的三个参考位点的短角杜鹃（Myoxocephalus scorpius）脾脏和肾脏中的黑色素巨噬细胞中心（MMC）反应。污染最严重站鱼类脾脏MMCs数量和面积显着低于污染较轻站（p < 0.01)。这表明来自污染地点的鱼和来自参考地点的鱼的免疫反应不同。这表明短角杜鹃的脾脏 MMC 可能具有污染物暴露的生物标志物潜力。然而，对于肾 MMC 而言，情况并非如此。此外，这项研究表明，体型对脾和肾 MMC 反应有影响。因此，在未来的研究中，在调查脾和肾 MMC 反应时需要考虑短角杜鹃的体型。