Differences in the Stroma Arrangement of Lymphomas of Marek's Disease and Lymphoid Leukosis in Poultry

Neuhybel P.: Differences in the stroma arrangement of lymphomas of Marek's disease and lymphoid leukosis in poultry. Acta vet. Brno, 58, 1989: 261-272. Thirty one-day-old chicks were infected with the virus of Marek's disease (MD), 30 chicks with the supernatant from the tissue culture of the clone LSCC-H32 producing viruses of lymphoid leukosis (LL) and 10 chicks served as controls. The lymphomas were histologically examined by staining with hematoxylin-eosin according to Van Gieson and Gomori, and with methylene green pyronine for RNA. Smear impressions from the sectioned surface of the compact tumor can also be used for orientation examinations. Collagen fibres do not contribute to the formation of lymphomas in MD and neither in LL. In MD, the reticular fibres form a dense network which is diffusely disseminated into the surrounding tissue, while in LL the lymphomas are sharply defined by the argyrophilic capsule with virtually no reticular fibres inside. The cell homogenate of MD lymphomas is considerably pleomorphic with small and medium-sized lymphocytes predominating. As concerns the cellular structure, the LL tumors consist of larger monomorphic blast-like cells with an activized nucleolus and pyroninophilic cytoplasm. For a more differentiated diagnosis of MD and LL we must take into account, besides the age of the affected birds, the incidence of the diseases in %, neural lesions, proliferation in the bursa and changes on the skin, also the participation of the individual cellular elements with regard to the content of RNA, character of growth and the structure of arrangement of reticular fibres. Marek's disease, lymphoid leukosis of poultry, reticular fibres, histopathology Tumorous diseases of poultry represent serious problems not only from the economic and veterinary-hygienic, but also general biological and medical points of view. Biggs (1975) reported that Marek's disease (MD), for example, can serve as a convenient model system for knowledge on the oncogenic effect of herpes viruses and diseases which they evoke. Kozusnik (1987) studied the occurrence of diseases in poultry in 1986 and stated that acute MD remains to be a permanent problem