Electron Microscopic Studies of Spleen in Chicken (Gallus domesticus)

Abstract

Electron microscopic studies on spleen of layer chicken were done in various age groups ranging from day-old to forty weeks. The spleen was encapsulated by a connective tissue capsule and the trabeculae were poorly developed in all the age groups studied. The major cellular population of the white pulp included lymphoblasts, lymphocytes of various sizes, follicular dendritic cells and reticulum cells. The splenic red pulp was composed of pulp cords consisted of erythrocytes, reticular cells and lymphocytes of various sizes, macrophages, granulocytes, plasma cells and mast cells. The arterioles that continued into the red pulp formed sheathed capillaries or ellipsoids.