UDC

611.4+591.4

DOI

10.17238/issn2542-1298.2020.8.1.61

Authors

Vladislav Ya. Yurchinskiy*/** ORCID: 0000-0003-3019-3053
*Smolensk State University (Smolensk, Russian Federation)
**Smolensk State Medical University (Smolensk, Russian Federation)
Corresponding author: Vladislav Yurchinskiy, address: ul. Przheval’skogo 4, Smolensk, 214000, Russian Federation; e-mail: zool72@mail.ru

Abstract

For the first time, using the methods of light microscopy, a comparative study was conducted into the morphological variability of Hassall’s corpuscles in mature land vertebrates, including humans. The material for the study included 502 thymus glands from 16 species of mature vertebrate animals belonging to four Chordata classes: Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, and Mammalia. Histological thymus specimens were prepared by the standard method in the sagittal and horizontal planes. All Hassall’s corpuscles, depending on their stage of development, were divided into three relative groups: young, mature, and ageing. The number of Hassall’s corpuscles was counted at different stages of maturity on a conventional unit of the shear area (100 μm) and the percent area occupied by the thymic bodies was determined. It was established that in all vertebrate animals and humans, Hassall’s corpuscles, as they mature, go through similar stages of morphological transformations. At the same time, in representatives of various classes and orders, depending on the level of organization and peculiarities of their biology, a different number of epithelial cells are included in the composition of the Hassall’s corpuscle at the stage of its formation. We found a dependence of the relative size and number of thymic bodies on the characteristics of the organism’s biology and environmental factors. For instance, in animals from the natural environment, compared with vertebrates exposed to a number of anthropogenic factors (American mink and human), the relative size of Hassall’s corpuscles is increased at all stages of maturity. In addition, the analysis of the results showed that the morphology of Hassall’s corpuscles in legless creatures (snakes) differs significantly from that of other animals living in the natural environment. On the basis of this study, conclusions are drawn about the specificity of the functional role of Hassall’s corpuscles associated with the maintenance of immunological homeostasis.
For citation: Yurchinskiy V.Ya. Peculiarities of the Morphology of Hassall’s Corpuscles in Mature Vertebrate Animals and Humans (Chordata, Vertebrata). Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 2020, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 61–71. DOI: 10.17238/issn2542-1298.2020.8.1.61

Keywords

thymus, Hassall’s corpuscles, vertebrates, comparative morphology

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