Cooper M D, Raymond D A, Peterson R D, South M A, Good R A
J Exp Med. 1966 Jan 1;123(1):75-102. doi: 10.1084/jem.123.1.75.
The bursa of Fabricius and the thymus are "central lymphoid organs" in the chicken, essential to the ontogenetic development of adaptive immunity in that species. Surgical removal of one or both of these organs in the newly hatched chicken, followed by sublethal X-irradiation the next day, has permitted recognition of two morphologically distinct cell systems in the "peripheral lymphoid tissues" of the spleen, gut, and other organs, and clear definition of the separate functions of each cell system. The thymus-dependent development is represented morphologically by the small lymphocytes of the circulation and the white pulp type of development in the tissues. As in mammals, the thymus-dependent tissues of the chicken are basic to the ontogenesis of cellular immunity: graft versus host reactions, responses of delayed hypersensitivity and homograft rejection; and play a less clearly defined role in the antibody response to at least some antigens. Thymectomized-irradiated chickens are deficient in all these responses, and grow more slowly than any of the other experimental groups. In these animals germinal centers, plasma cells, and capacity for immunoglobulin synthesis remain intact. The bursa-dependent development is represented morphologically by the larger lymphocytes of the germinal centers and the plasma cells, and functionally by the immunoglobulins. Bursectomized-irradiated chickens are agammaglobulinemic and unable to produce detectable antibody despite intense, repeated stimulation with bovine serum albumin and Brucella abortus organisms. The thymus-dependent development in these animals seems to be normal; they have adequate numbers of lymphocytes in the circulation and tissues, are able to reject skin homografts, though more slowly than usual, and to exercise graft versus host reactions. The short life span of these chickens has precluded adequate study of responses of delayed hypersensitivity. There was no evidence of significant impairment of reticuloendothelial function in either the bursectomized-irradiated or the thymectomized-irradiated group, as judged by the clearance of colloidal gold and I(131)-tagged keyhole limpet hemocyanin.
法氏囊和胸腺是鸡的“中枢淋巴器官”，对该物种适应性免疫的个体发育至关重要。在刚孵出的小鸡中手术切除其中一个或两个器官，次日再进行亚致死剂量的X射线照射，这使得人们能够识别出脾脏、肠道和其他器官的“外周淋巴组织”中两种形态上不同的细胞系统，并明确了每个细胞系统的单独功能。胸腺依赖性发育在形态上表现为循环中的小淋巴细胞以及组织中白髓类型的发育。与哺乳动物一样，鸡的胸腺依赖性组织是细胞免疫个体发育的基础：移植物抗宿主反应、迟发型超敏反应和同种异体移植排斥反应；并且在对至少某些抗原的抗体反应中发挥的作用不太明确。胸腺切除-照射的鸡在所有这些反应中都存在缺陷，并且比任何其他实验组生长得都慢。在这些动物中，生发中心、浆细胞和免疫球蛋白合成能力保持完整。法氏囊依赖性发育在形态上表现为生发中心的较大淋巴细胞和浆细胞，在功能上表现为免疫球蛋白。法氏囊切除-照射的鸡是无丙种球蛋白血症的，尽管用牛血清白蛋白和流产布鲁氏菌反复强烈刺激，仍无法产生可检测到的抗体。这些动物的胸腺依赖性发育似乎正常；它们在循环和组织中有足够数量的淋巴细胞，能够排斥皮肤同种异体移植，尽管比正常情况慢，并且能够进行移植物抗宿主反应。这些鸡的寿命较短，妨碍了对迟发型超敏反应的充分研究。通过胶体金和I(131)标记的钥孔戚血蓝蛋白的清除情况判断，法氏囊切除-照射组或胸腺切除-照射组均没有明显的网状内皮系统功能损害的证据。
