Influence of Pasteurella multocida and High and Low Environmental Temperatures on Adrenals and Bursa of Fabricius in Turkeys

Abstract

The morphologic changes in the adrenals and bursa of Fabricius were evaluated from turkeys inoculated with Pasteurella multocida either in the palatine air spaces or via drinking water and maintained at high (33.4-37.4 C), low (2.6-5.3 C), and moderate (19.8-22.4 C) temperatures in temperature-controlled chambers. There was a slight hyperplasia of the adrenal cortical cells and a hypertrophy of the nuclei in the uninoculated turkeys maintained at both high and low temperatures, but these changes were more marked in turkeys maintained at low temperatures. Regardless of the temperature to which the turkeys were exposed, there was an increase in adrenal weight, hyperplasia of the cortical cells, hypertrophy of the nuclei of the cortical cells, and depletion of lipid in the cortical cells in the turkeys that became depressed after inoculation with P. multocida. In the uninoculated turkeys exposed to high temperatures there was a reduction in the weight of the bursa of Fabricius, atrophy of the follicles, and a reduction in the number of lymphocytes within the follicle, which did not occur in the bursae from uninoculated turkeys maintained at low temperatures. In the turkeys inoculated with P. multocida, there was a marked reduction in bursal weight, atrophy of the follicles, and reduction in the number of lymphocytes within the follicles.