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Cellular composition of the chicken thymus; effects of neonatal bursectomy and hydrocortisone treatment
Author(s) -
Zucker R.,
Jauker Uta,
Droege W.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.1830031214
Subject(s) - bursectomy , biology , thymectomy , population , bursa of fabricius , lymphocyte , endocrinology , composition (language) , medicine , immunology , andrology , spleen , antibody , myasthenia gravis , linguistics , philosophy , demography , sociology
Abstract The cellular composition of the young chicken thymus has been analyzed by using 3 different physical parameters: cell volume, electrophoretic mobility, and the buoyant density of the cells. The analyses revealed the presence of 3 major subpopulations in the thymus of 16‐week old chickens. These populations comprised about 66%, 19% and 15% of the thymic lymphoid pool. The data indicate that the last population, representing 15%, predominates in the medulla and is competent for GvH reactions. Marked effects on the cellular composition of the young chicken thymus are observed after neonatal bursectomy or after hydrocortisone treatment. Several findings suggest that the effect of bursectomy is not to be explained by B cell contamination in the chicken thymus. The data indicate the existence in the young chicken thymus of a bursa‐dependent cellular subpopulation different from peripheral B lymphocytes but also different from cooperative or GvH active T cells. This subpopulation represents a part of the 66% small cells, and is estimated to constitute about 15% of the thymic lymphocyte pool.