RESUMO
The armadillo is rapidly emerging as an animal for biomedical research. A morphological study of the immune system of the armadillo was undertaken to try to demonstrate a possible defect in the morphogenesis of the lymphoid organs that could account for their susceptibility to leprosy. Blood from 20 domesticated adult armadillos revealed lymphocytes predominated among circulating leukocytes in the majority of animals, whereas in wild animals neutrophils predominated. Necropsies revealed well-developed thymus glands and the thymus-dependent areas in lymph nodes and spleens contained abundant lymphoid cells. Hence, we conclude that the susceptibility of the armadillo to leprosy cannot be explained on a morphological basis.
Assuntos
Modelos Animais de Doenças , Hanseníase/imunologia , Xenarthra/imunologia , Fatores Etários , Animais , Basófilos/citologia , Análise Química do Sangue , Histiócitos/citologia , Leucócitos/citologia , Linfonodos/anatomia & histologia , Linfócitos/citologia , Tecido Linfoide/anatomia & histologia , Mycobacterium leprae/patogenicidade , Neutrófilos/citologia , Baço/anatomia & histologia , Timo/anatomia & histologia , Xenarthra/anatomia & histologiaRESUMO
Individuals with congenital immunodeficiences and patients who are immunosuppressed for maintenance of organ allografts experience a marked increase in the occurrence of malignancy. Patients with lepromatous leprosy also have depressed cellular immunity, but or study of 195 autopsied subjects with leprosy did not reveal an increase in the occurrence of cancer. Thirty-three of the 195 subjects with leprosy or 16.9% died of cancer, which is comparable to an age-matched group of individuals.