Department of Anatomy and Histology, College of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, DUVASU, Mathura-281001
Online published on 19 December, 2013.
The transmission electron microscopic study was conducted on the Peyer's patches of 6 adult guinea fowl birds. Peyer's patches in the guinea fowl were indistinguishable at the ultrastructural level. They were covered by an epithelium consisting mainly of undifferentiated intestinal cells and infiltrated with variable numbers of lymphocytes so that a well developed lymphoepithelium was formed. Goblet cells, plasma cells, granulocytes, globule leucocytes and mast cells were also seen between cells of the epithelium. The shape of the intestinal cells was often distorted by these invading cells. The payers patches were overlaid by a lymphoepithelium containing undifferentiated intestinal epithelial cells with a well developed microvillous border, follicle associated epithelial (FAE) or M cells with short blunt microvilli, lymphocytes and plasma cells. FAE cells had a lightly stained cytoplasm with vacuoles and vesicles. The lymphoid aggregates of Peyer's patches consisted of small and large lymphocytes, lymphoblasts and plasma cells. Macrophages and globule leucocytes were seen among the lymphoid cells.
