Vol. 39, No. 3-4, 1995
The apoptosis of lymphocytes in chicken bursa of Fabricius after gamma irradiation
Konrád, V., kardová, I., Ojeda, F*., Levkut, M., Prosbová, M.
University of Veterinary Medicine
041 81 Kosice
Komenskeho 73
Slovak Republic |
* Universidad Austral
P. O. Box 567
Valdivia
Chile |
Summary
Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is recognized as a basic phenomenon of cell physiology in an organism. This holds particularly for immunocompetent cells. In radiation diseases, the immune system is among the most sensitive.
We performed experiments in which chickens were irradiated and in each case the bursa of Fabricius was then examined histologically. We irradiated chickens (5 weeks old) with 4.5 Gy at the dose rate of 0.33 Gy/min, and extracted their bursae 1 h, 6 h or 24 h after irradiation. The organs were fixed in 10% formaline and stained by HE.
It was apparent that the proportion of apoptosis increased with time, beginning with 50% apoptosis at 1 h. Twenty-four hours after irradiation, no medullary lymphocytes remained in the chicken bursa of Fabricius, and in the cortex only a few apoptotic lymphocytes were found.
Apoptosis induction in bursa appears as a sensitive and fast response to irradiation.
Key words: apoptosis; gamma radiation; bursa of Fabricius; chicken; morphology
This article is dedicated to the memory of the late Prof. P. P o p e s k o, DVM, DSc on the seventieth anniversary of his birth.
References
Folia Veterinaria / 1995