Identification of tissue hypoxia in the livers of ascitic and hypoxia-induced broilers using trypan blue

1. The perfusion of livers with the vital dye trypan blue was performed to test for evidence of tissue hypoxia in 3 groups of young broiler chickens, namely, ascitic, hypoxia-induced and controls. 2. Hepatocytes that stained with trypan blue were considered to be dead or dying before fixation and represented damaged cells. 3. The proportion of trypan blue-stained hepatocytes in the livers of ascitic birds was slightly less than half that observed in the hypoxia-induced birds but significantly more than the proportion of stained cells observed in control birds. 4. Liver damage in the ascitic birds was also assessed biochemically by an altered enzyme profile. 5. The study demonstrated that increased trypan blue uptake in the livers of ascitic birds reared at sea-level may be the consequence of hypoxia stress caused by reduced oxygen utilisation.