Ontogeny of this immuno-neuro-endocrine relationship. Changes in lymphoid tissue of chick embryos surgically decapitated at 33-38 hours of incubation.
The prosencephalon, and primordium of the hypophysis were surgically removed from chick embryos at 33-38 hours of incubation. The thymus, bursa of Fabricius, spleen, bone marrown and liver were examined cytomorphologically on day 15, 17 and 19. T marker-bearing and Bu marker-bearing lymphocytes were identified by immunofluorescence. Decapitated embryos tended to be smaller than sham-decapitated controls of the same age, and exhibited retarded development of the thymus, bursa, spleen and liver. Decapitation particularly affected the cellular composition of the bursa and spleen, induced a decrease in the number of lymphocytes, and caused a striking depletion of lymphocytes bearing Bu antigen. This experiment showed an interdependence between lymphoid (immune), nervous and endocrine centers in the chick embryo.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000473:pathology; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000276:immunology* / Q000294:innervation / Q000601:surgery; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000196:embryology*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors