FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF BIRDS’ BLOOD LEUKOCYTES

Abstract

The present research was carried out in an attempt to identify the problems associated with the morphofunctional analysis of vertebrate animal’s leukocyte blood cells. For this blood samples of four age groups chickens (Gallus gallus L.) were collected and analysis was carried out as per the recommendations of the International Council for Standardization in Hematology for the identifying morpho-physiological characteristics of leukocytes of peripheral blood of birds. Results of the current study were based on the sample of early postnatal ontogenesis based on the analysis of high-resolution color microphotographs taken by the method of light-optical microscopy. Results of the current study revealed that the cells have the well-designed of all granular leukocytes typical "eosinophilic" nucleus with two segments. Sometimes cells contain polysegmental nuclei that are eccentrically located. Further, in contrast to heterophils, the eosinophilic nucleus has well-expressed contours, formed by irregularly shaped chromatin blocks with an optically denser structure. There are also eosinophils with stick-nuclei. The smallest blood granulocytes of the birds are basophils. Basophils differ in structure slightly basophilic color cytoplasm with intensively basophilic granules of rounded or other forms of different size. The sizes of granules in basophils are smaller than the other types of granular leukocytes. Thus, based on the analysis of qualitative color microphotographs of white blood cells of chickens of neonatal ontogenesis performed by optical microscopy, the differential morpho-physiological markers of leukocytic cells of peripheral blood of birds were marked and characterized.