title: Identification and quantification of granulocytes in caecal mucosa and submucosa of chickens experimentally infected with Eimeria tenella and Salmonella enteritidis.
abstract: 1. Poultry granulocytes are not clearly distinguished from each other with haematoxylin-eosin (HE) stain; thus, histochemical techniques must be used. Three experiments were carried out using 4-week-old Leghorn chickens. 2. Three, 80-chicken groups were orally infected with (1) 10(8) colony forming units (CFUs) Salmonella enteritidis, or (2) 10(4) Eimeria tenella oocysts, or (3) 10(8) CFUs S. enteritidis + 10(4) E. tenella oocysts. Ten chickens from each group were euthanased and caecum samples obtained. Caecum samples were fixed in 10% formalin (buffered, pH 7.4) at 4, 8, 12 h, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 d post-inoculation (PI). 3. Samples were stained using three different staining techniques: HE for the identification of heterophils and eosinophils, Ziehl-Neelsen for mast cells, and p-phenilenediamine dihydrochloride plus pyrocatechol (PPD + PC) for eosinophils. 4. Birds from Experiment 1 showed no changes in the numbers of granulocytes. Birds from Experiments 2 and 3 showed higher numbers of heterophils in caecal mucosa and submucosa separately, on d 5 and 7. In Experiment 3, a decrease was observed in submucosal mast cells on d 3. Chickens from Experiments 2 and 3 showed increased numbers of mucosal mast cells between d 7 and 14. 5. PPD + PC positively stained eosinophils, but not heterophils. 6. Numbers of heterophils and mast cells were increased during the acute inflammatory process caused by E. tenella. Therefore, mast cells could play a role as primary inflammatory cells. Eosinophils seem not to be part of the inflammatory process caused by E. tenella.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Animal: Aves, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México DF, Mexico. petrone@servidor.unam.mx
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Constantino
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pradal-Roa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001491:Basophils / Q000276:immunology; D002432:Cecum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D002645:Chickens; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016786:Eimeria tenella / Q000254:growth & development; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006651:Histocytochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000276:immunology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012477:Salmonella enteritidis / Q000254:growth & development