Anatomical Study of Thymus at Different Stages of Development in Pati Duck of Assam

Abstract

Background: The study on Thymus of Pati duck of Assam is of great value in regard to normal academic and vaccine production. The aim of the study was to evaluate the gross and histo-morphological examination of thymus of Pati duck at different age group. Methods: The present studies were conducted on 36 numbers of Pati duck of Assam of irrespective of sex at different stages of development. The ducks were divided into six groups viz., day old, 15th day, 4th week, 8th week, 16th week and 24th week of age. For histomorphological studies, tissue samples were fixed in 10% NBF and then processed as per the standard technique andprocedure of Luna (1968). The paraffin blocks were sectioned in Shandon Finesse microtome at 5 micrometer (µm) thickness and the tissue sections were stained with Mayer’s Haematoxylin and Eosin staining technique for Cellular details, Van Gieson’s method for collagen fibres, Gomori’s method for reticular fibres, Hart’s and Verhoeff’s method for elastic fibers and Bielchowsky’s method for axis cylinder and dendrites. Result: The thymus, a primary lymphoid organ of Pati duck of Assam was arranged in two long chains on either side of the neck embedded in the sub dermal connective tissue as chains of lobes connected to each other by connective tissue. The thymus of Pati duck consisted of a capsule made up of connective tissue fibres and cells from which trabeculae entered the parenchyma dividing that organ into a number of incomplete lobules. The unique structure of the thymus, the Hassall’s corpuscles, was formed by the hypertrophied reticulo-epithelial cells and was very common in the medulla.