Ultrastructural study on the granulocytes of Uttara fowl (Gallus domesticus)

AIM The present study was conducted to know the ultrastructural detail of the blood cells of Uttara fowl (native fowl of Uttarakhand). MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted on 10 apparently healthy adult birds of either sex reared at the Instructional Poultry Farm, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The blood was collected from wing vein using ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid as anticoagulant. The blood was further processed for scanning and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies separately. RESULTS Ultrastructurally, the heterophils were irregularly round in shape. The cytoplasm was laden with pleomorphic membrane-bound granules, viz., large elliptical-, medium oval-, large round-, and medium round-shaped granules. The eosinophils under TEM were irregularly circular in outline showing pseudopodia and finger-like cytoplasmic processes. The cytoplasmic granules were pleomorphic with elliptical-, round-, and rod-shaped granules. The basophils were irregularly circular in outline containing small hook-like cytoplasmic processes. The cytoplasm contained electron dense and electron lucent round-shaped granules. CONCLUSION Granulocytes contained pleomorphic cytoplasmic granules. However, the shape and electron density of granules varied among the different granulocytes and helped in the characterization of different granulocytes.