title: Red cell size and various lung arterial measurements in different strains of domestic fowl.
abstract: Red cell size and various lung arterial measurements were examined in different strains of young commercial broiler and layer fowls. The broilers were: Marshall, Cobb, Ross 'selected', Ross 'relaxed' and the layers were: Isa Brown, Ross Brown and Hisex Brown. The Ross relaxed bird had a significantly larger red cell than any other strain. Overall, broilers had larger red cells than layers. The internal elastic lamina, a measure of arterial size, was small in the Ross relaxed bird (138 microns) and was at its maximum (163 microns) in the selected Ross strain. The medial area (muscle coat) was least in the Ross relaxed bird (984 microns2) and greatest in the Cobb strain (1516 microns2). In some strains there was a slight correlation among birds between red cell and arterial size but not with the medial area. The results appeared to indicate that red cell size may not be the only important correlating factor in the aetiology of pulmonary hypertension in fowls.
authors.affiliation: Agricultural and Food Research Council, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research, Roslin, Midlothian.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Maxwell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D002645:Chickens; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results