Ultrastructure of buffalo, Syncerus caffer, platelets: comparison with bovine and human platelets.

Platelets are found in the blood of all mammals and serve the same basic hemostatic functions in all. Species differences in the morphology and activities of platelets in human and domesticated animals have been observed, but there is little published information regarding the blood pictures of wild animals. In this study, the ultrastructure of buffalo platelets was compared with that of bovine and human platelets. Buffalo platelets were found to be smaller than human platelets and intracellularly had larger alpha-granules, possessed distinctive dense granules and a more distinct microtubuli system, but they lacked the open canalicular system observed in the human type. This morphology is similar to that of cattle platelets.