A morphometrical study of chicken spleen with special reference to the bursa dependence of the white pulp

Histoquantitative methods were applied to the study of the bursa dependence of the while pulp structures of normal chickens and chickens bursectomized neonatally by surgical means or chemically by the anal application of colchicine solution. The morphometrical analysis of the spleens from 6- and 12-week-old bursectomized chickens showed that the amount of the white pulp tissue and its compartments, periellipsoidal lymphoid tissue (PELT), periarteriolar lymphoid tissue (PALT) as well as the number of the germinal centers (GC), were decreased, when compared to the controls. The perivenous lymphoid tissue (PVLT) seemed not to be affected by the bursectomies. The results indicate that the PELT, PALT and GCs are bursa-dependent structures of chicken spleen, whereas the PVLT seems to be bursa-independent.