A comparative in vitro study of morphology and phagocytic capacity of the free surface respiratory macrophages in the duck and the rabbit
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Date
2011-08Author
Mutua, PM
Kiama, SG
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the
free surface respiratory macrophages (SM) of the
domestic duck (
Anas platyrhynchos
) were compared with those of the domestic rabbit (
Oryctologus
cuniculus
) under similar experimental conditions. The duck h
ad significantly fewer SM compared to
those of rabbit. In the duck, there was flux of SM
as depicted by increase of SM during the first thre
e
progressive lavages before the number started to de
cline during the fourth and fifth lavages. In the
rabbits, there was decline in number of the SM duri
ng the five progressive lavages. Morphologically, t
he
cells were similar at light and electron microscopy
levels. Ultra structurally, the SM had filopodial
extensions and variable vesicular cytoplasmic bodie
s. The diameters were comparable with duck SM
mean diameter measuring about 12 μm while that of t
he rabbit SM mean diameter being 13 μm. The
mean volume density of polystyrene particles ingest
ed by the SM, that is volume of particles per unit
volume of SM, revealed that the duck SM had signifi
cantly higher mean phagocytic capacity at 20% than
rabbit SM whose mean phagocytic capacity was 9%. Th
e assertion that domestic birds are prone to
respiratory diseases due to dearth of SM alone may
not be true. The higher phagocytic capacity
observed in the duck SM probably compensates for th
e few resident SM. Vulnerability to respiratory
diseases by the domestic birds may be due to other
factors such as poor husbandry and management
strategies and, severe genetic manipulations for fa
st growth and productivity that may have weakened
cellular immunological defenses.
URI
http://www.academicjournals.org/JCAB/PDF/pdf2011/August/Mutua%20and%20Kiama.pdfhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/34905
Citation
Journal of Cell and Animal Biology, 2011 Vol. 5(8), pp. 16Publisher
Univesity of Nairobi Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology