Morphological Characteristics of the Thymus and Spleen and the Subpopulation Composition of Lymphocytes in Peripheral Blood during Systemic Inflammatory Response in Male Rats with Different Resistance to Hypoxia

Figure 3

Morphological changes in the thymus of tolerant- and susceptible-to-hypoxia male Wistar rats after 3, 6, and 24 hours of LPS administration. Hematoxylin and eosin staining. Original magnification: 100x. (a) Tolerant-to-hypoxia rat, control group; cortex is wide, and the border between the cortex and medulla is readable. (b) Susceptible-to-hypoxia rat, control group; the proportion of the cortex/medulla is 1:1, and the border between them is readable. (c) Tolerant-to-hypoxia rats, 3 h LPS; narrowing of cortex (with a starry-sky aspect). (d) Susceptible-to-hypoxia rats, 3 h LPS; mild involution, narrowing of cortex, more pronounced compared with tolerant ones. (e) Tolerant-to-hypoxia rats, 6 h LPS; mild involution; the cortex is narrow. (f) Susceptible-to-hypoxia rats, 6 h LPS; a pronounced starry-sky aspect, devastation of cortex, and macrophages and dying lymphocytes. (g) Tolerant-to-hypoxia rats, 24 h LPS; narrow cortex; the border between the cortex and medulla is readable. (h) Susceptible-to-hypoxia rats, 24 h LPS; narrow cortex; the border between the cortex and medulla is readable.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)