The Morphometric Features of Ruminants’ Spleen in Age Aspect

Abstract

The maximum relative weight of the spleen was in cattle 0,225 ± 0,012 % at the age of 30 months, in sheep – 0,180±0,014 % at the age of 20 months and then gradually decreased. The relative area of support-contractile apparatus in cattle increased from 3,67 to 8,68 %, in sheep – from 4,29 to 14,68 %, while the proportion of trabecular system prevailed over the share of the capsule. Relative area of lymphoid sheaths around vessels in the 30-month sheep was in 2,29 times larger than in 3-month; the relative area of lymphoid nodules increased from 2,29 % in the 3-month animals to 11,78 % in the 28–months animals. In cattle the most developed was lymphoid sheath around vessels at the age of 5 years (6,46 %). Maximum development of white pulp of the spleen occurs in sheep in 28-months (17,93 %) and 30-months cattle (21,39 %). The relative area of structural components lymphoid nodules, bright center, mantle, zone around vessels and marginal zone in sheep increases with age in 3,27 (from 0,55 % in 9-month to 1,93 in 30-months), 3,97 (from 0,59 % 3-month to 2,34 in 28-monthly), 5,17 (from 0,24 % in the 3-month to 1,24 in 30-monthly) and 3,91 (with 0,77 % for 3-month to 6,52 in 28-monthly) times respectively and the highest reaches at 28-30-month animals. The biggest development in lymphoid nodules sheep from 9 months has marginal zone (6,52 % in 28-months of age). The lowest relative area of the spleen of sheep takes a zone around vessels (0,24–1,24 %). In l cattle’s lymphoid nodules the bright center, mantle zone and zone around vessels occupied roughly the same relative area, marginal zone had the largest area – 9,11% at 30 months of age. The relative area of red pulp of the spleen of sheep decreased in 1,32 times during 3–30 months from 90,64 ± 4,59 to 68,56 ± 2,47 %. In cattle relative area of red pulp at the age of 4-months was 85,49 %, and then was gradually decreasing and after that for 30-months – 7 years amounted to nearly 73 %.