The influence of methisoprinol administered in ovo on the morphological structure of the spleen in turkeys.

This study analyzed the effect of a synthetic, low-toxic immunomodulator - methisoprinol - administered in ovo on the morphological structure of the spleen in turkeys. Experiments were conducted on three groups of 5-day-old BUT 9 turkeys (35 birds in each group) hatched from eggs which, on day 26 of incubation, had been administered methisoprinol (VetAgro, Lublin, Poland) in ovo in a dose of 5 mg (group I) or 20 mg per egg (group II). Poults hatched from eggs administered a physiological solution of NaCl in a dose of 0.1 ml per egg in ovo served as a control (group III). Samples of the spleen were collected from 5 birds selected at random from a group of decapitated 5-day-old poults and the prepared 7 fm-paraffin sections were stained with HE. A morphometric analysis of the germinal centres of the white pulp of the spleen was conducted by subjecting pictures taken with an optical microscope to a Digital Image Analysis using Axio Vision software (by Zeiss). The study demonstrated that in terms of the morphological structure, the spleen of the poults hatched from eggs administered 5 mg of methisoprinol (group I) did not differ considerably from the spleen of the control birds. In turn, spleens of the poults hatched from eggs administered 20 mg of methisoprinol per embryo were characterized by distinctively developed red pulp and within the area of the white pulp by distinct cortical section containing numerous lymphocytes. In spleens of the poults from this group, the morphometric examination also demonstrated a higher number of germinal centres of the white pulp as compared to their number in spleens of the birds from the other groups.