title: Lymphoid follicles in the gastric mucosa of dogs. Distribution and lymphocyte phenotypes.
abstract: The occurrence and distribution of lymphoid follicles within the stomachs of 36 dogs that did not have macroscopic gastric lesions are presented. The dogs ranged in age from less than 1 year to over 13 years. The number of follicles varied between the different regions of the stomach, being most numerous (15.6 follicles cm-2) and uniform in size (about 1 mm in diameter) in the fundus. The number and size of follicles in the antrum varied widely between dogs. Age-related changes in the distribution of follicles were not found following simple linear regression analysis. The phenotypes of lymphocytes in gastric lymphoid follicles of nine dogs aged from less than 1 year to 5 years were determined using monoclonal antibodies specific for canine leucocyte antigens and an indirect immunoperoxidase technique. The follicles had an organized distribution of lymphocytes subsets in that a predominantly B cell area contained some CD4+ cells and very few CD8+ cells and was adjacent to an area containing mostly T cells. Computer-assisted morphometric analysis was used to quantify the overall presence of the various lymphocyte subpopulations. Follicles in the fundus and body regions possessed similar percentages of lymphocytes averaging 42%, 22% and 3% of the area occupied by B cells, CD4+ and CD8+ cells, respectively. It is concluded that lymphoid follicles are a normal constituent of the canine gastric mucosa and possess a lymphocyte composition similar to that reported by others for solitary intestinal follicles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, Oslo.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kolbjørnsen
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Press
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Landsverk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002452:Cell Count; D004285:Dogs / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000662:veterinary*; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II