Ciliary abnormalities in the tracheal epithelium of normal fallow deer (Dama dama)

Specimens of tracheal mucosa were obtained from seven 2- to 5-year-old healthy fallow deer by an Olympus GIF P20 fibroscope. Biopsies were performed in two selected areas in the upper and lower third, respectively. Ultrastructurally, a total of 50,000 cilia were examined. Pathological cilia were found in all examined subjects. The prevalence of compound cilia showed a range of 0.9 to 3.0%. The presence of both intracytoplasmatic and swollen cilia ranged from 0.1 to 0.2%. Furthermore, the microtubular pattern was examined in 5,000 cross-sectioned cilia. Microtubular defects were seen to involve only the peripheral doublets and ranged from 1.3 to 4.1%. Finally, a central plug of electron-dense material was observed in 7-10% of the examined basal bodies.