Congenital cerebellar dysplasia in White Leghorn chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus).
Congenital cerebellar anomalies have been rarely reported in birds. We examined cerebellums with disorganized folia from seven specific-pathogen-free White Leghorn chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Islands of heterotopic cortex were distributed from the deeper cortices to the medulla in the cerebellum. The characteristic lesions were composed of randomly admixed components of the cerebellar cortex, including Purkinje cells, a molecular layer and granular cells. Immunofluorescent analysis revealed Purkinje cells with haphazardly extended dendrites and a lack of Bergmann's glial fibres in the foci. Chicken parvovirus, Aino virus and avian retrovirus were not detected in the affected birds by polymerase chain reaction. This is the first report of cerebellar dysplasia in chickens possibly caused by a genetic abnormality.
a Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine , Hokkaido University , Sapporo , Japan.
Sayuri
S
Nakamura
Kenji
K
Ochiai
Hiroki
H
Yabushita
Asumi
A
Abe
D000818:Animals; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000662:veterinary*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000002:abnormalities; D002645:Chickens / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000151:congenital*; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms