Increase of the bursal follicular medullary compartment in chicks intracloacally inoculated with Bordetella pertussis.
The cloacal bursa is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for the maturation of B-lymphocytes. It has been suggested that the bursa may also play a peripheral role when antigens are inoculated by cloacal route. Qualitative and quantitative structural modifications in the bursa from chicks inoculated with Bordetella pertussis by the cloacal route were investigated. Observations indicated that the relative bursal growth as well as the volume fraction and the mitotic index of the follicular medulla from experimental bursae are significantly greater than those of the controls. Macrophages which have phagocytized bacteria, and a gradual relative increase of the RER of lymphoblasts, were other structural modifications found exclusively in the follicular medulla. The observations suggest that the bursal follicular cortex and medulla act as autonomous histophysiological compartments, the latter being responsible for an antigenic stimulation when Bordetella pertussis is intracloacally inoculated in chicks.
de Azevedo
R B
RB
Department of Histology and Embryology, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Betti
F
F
D000818:Animals; D001884:Bordetella / Q000276:immunology*; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D002645:Chickens; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D008940:Mitotic Index