Fig. 5

Histo-pathological features of spinal cord tissue from a commercial broiler showing clinical signs of severe cervical spine deformity. Micrographs show the longitudinal topography of the spinal cord tissue taken from the section compressed by deformed cervical vertebral column (Fig. 4b). The section at sub-gross level (a, stained with H&E) indicates loss of myelin in the areas directly affected by deformation (arrows), which is further confirmed at high magnification (b, stained with PTAH). Noteworthy are multifocal and locally extensive areas of myelin loss (arrows) and localized rarefication of glial fibers. Bars: a: 500 µm; b: 40 µm