Comparative Studies of Mucosa and Immunoglobulin (Ig)-Containing Plasma Cells in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Broiler and Native Chickens of Bangladesh

The aims of this study was to find out the histological differences of the mucosa and comparative analysis of Ig-containing plasma cells among the different segments of the gastrointestinal tract of broiler and native chickens of Bangladesh. The conventional histological study revealed that the lining epithelium of the proximal segments (esophagus, crop, and proventriculus) were thicker in the broiler. The esophageal glands were more in the broiler than the native chickens. The villi of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum were slender and longer in the broiler in comparison to the native chickens. The number of goblet cells in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum was more in the native chickens than the broiler. The indirect immunohistochemistry revealed that very few immunoglobulin (Ig)-containing plasma cells were present in the epithelium and lamina propria of esophagus, crop, and proventriculus of the broiler and native chickens. The frequency of the population of these cells were abundantly located in the lamina propria, around the intestinal gland and in the core of the villi from duodenum to ileum of broiler and native chickens. The intraepithelial IgA-containing epithelium was observed only in the epithelium of the native chickens. Segmental variation of Ig-containing plasma cells was noticed in these two strains of chickens. The IgA-, IgG-, and IgM-containing plasma cells were significantly more in the most of the segments of the small intestine of the native chickens. This suggested that besides the existence of histological variation in the gastrointestinal tract of broiler and native chickens, the Ig-containing plasma cells were significantly more in the different segments of the digestive tract of native chickens possible due to their scavenging.