MORPHOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF MAJOR LYMPHOID ORGANS OF CHEMOTHERAPY TREATED CHICKENS

Abstract

The study was carried out to know the gross morphological and morphometrical changes of major lymphoid organs of chemotherapy treated chickens during the period from July to September 2004 in the Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The 12-day-old 16 chickens (Vencobb broiler) were divided into four groups viz, group A, group B, and group C that were treated with cyclophosphamide @ 3 mg / kg body weight intramuscularly, vincristine @ 0.07 mg /kg body weight intramuscularly and the combination of the former two drugs using same dose and route for 3 consecutive days respectively and group D was kept as untreated control. After 7 days of last chemotherapy all birds were weighed and killed one by one through cervical subluxation. The body weights of the chemotherapy treated groups were decreased in comparison to control but more decreased in cyclophosphamide treated chickens. The major lymphoid organs (thymus, bursa of Fabricius, spleen and cecal tonsils) were exposed through ventral neck and abdominal dissection and grossly atrophy of the major lymphoid organs was observed in the chemotherapy treated chicken than the control chicken. After collection, the major lymphoid organs were weighed with the help of electric balance one by one. The weights of major lymphoid organs reduced in the chemotherapy treated chickens than the control chickens but the weight of lymphoid organs more reduced in the cyclophosphamide treated chickens. The result of the present study revealed that the size and weight of the major lymphoid organs of the chemotherapy treated chicken decreased in comparison to control chicken. These results indicated that the reduction of weight of major lymphoid organs was due to the action of drug in the lymphoid organs of chemotherapy treated chickens.