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1 July 1994 CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE EFFECTS ON IMMUNE FUNCTION OF EUROPEAN STARLINGS
Kimberly A. Trust, Jeff R. Fowles, Michael J. Hooper, Anne Fairbrother
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Abstract

We developed and tested a battery of immune function assays on adult European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) exposed to the immunotoxicant cyclophosphamide (CY). Starlings were injected intraperitoneally for three consecutive days with saline or 20 mg/kg CY. Cyclophosphamide did not affect body mass or packed cell volume. However, spleen to body mass ratios and the number of viable spleen cells were lower in CY-treated birds when compared to controls. Peripheral white blood cell numbers were reduced in CY-treated starlings, and the decrease affected all cell types. Phagocytic ability of macrophages cultured from peripheral blood monocytes was impaired in cells from CY-treated birds. Additionally, CY treatment resulted in decreased lymphocyte blastogenesis to the T-cell mitogen Concanavalin A. The hemagglutination response to sheep erythrocytes was lower in birds that had received CY. Thus, these immunological methods detected chemically-induced immune dysfunction in starlings.

Trust, Fowles, Hooper, and Fairbrother: CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE EFFECTS ON IMMUNE FUNCTION OF EUROPEAN STARLINGS
Kimberly A. Trust, Jeff R. Fowles, Michael J. Hooper, and Anne Fairbrother "CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE EFFECTS ON IMMUNE FUNCTION OF EUROPEAN STARLINGS," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 30(3), 328-334, (1 July 1994). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-30.3.328
Received: 7 October 1993; Published: 1 July 1994
KEYWORDS
cyclophosphamide
European Starling
hemagglutination
immunity
lymphocyte blastogenesis
macrophage phagocytosis
Sturnus vulgaris
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