Age-related histomorphochemical, histoenzymological, and ultrastructural studies on the thymus of Indian sheep

Abstract Background The current study was undertaken to elucidate the histomorphochemical alterations, enzyme histochemistry, and electron imaging of the Indian sheep thymus at various phases of postnatal development, taking into account the scarcity of literature on the subject. The study looked at the thymus glands of 25 sheep ranging in age from a day-old lamb to 36 months, regardless of sex. Results The thymus of young sheep has an outer dark basophilic layer, the cortex, and an interior lighter zone, the medulla. The staining discrepancies indicate that the cortex has a substantially higher number of tiny lymphocytes than the medulla. The cortex is made up of a large number of densely packed tiny lymphocytes with darkly pigmented nuclei that are surrounded by macrophages and plasma cells. Flat reticuloepithelial cells were also shown to have acidophilic cytoplasm and vesicular nuclei. The reticuloepithelial cells were fewer and smaller in size than those in the medulla. Macrophages were regularly found in tiny quantities and distributed throughout the cortex. The lightly stained thymic medulla had fewer and larger lymphocytes, as well as a high concentration of large reticuloepithelial cells. The medulla had two types of Hassall’s corpuscles: small concentric and giant cystic. Adult sheep thymus involution was characterized by decreased lobule size and irregularity, fewer cortical lymphocytes, extension of the medullary area, and a rise in the size and number of Hassall’s corpuscles. Hassall’s corpuscles and reticuloepithelial cells exhibited weak to moderate Periodic Acid Schiff-alcian blue combinations, and moderate alcian blue responses. The dehydrogenase enzyme group exhibited a weak to moderate reactivity in the cortex, whereas high to intense activity was found in the medullary region. Both cortical and medullary thymocytes showed uniformly modest glucose-6-phosphatase activity. The enzyme histochemistry revealed that the peripheral zone of Hassall’s corpuscles has moderate to strong activity than in the central part. Hassall’s corpuscles are sites of intense cellular activity, often involving the terminal differentiation and apoptosis of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and thymocytes. An outer zone has active cellular metabolism or secretory activity (e.g., production of cytokines) however, the cells in the center are more keratinized, degenerative, or necrotic, and thus have lower metabolic/enzyme activity. Ultrastructural examinations revealed that the bulk of the parenchyma was composed of large and small lymphocytes, reticuloepithelial cells, plasma cells, and macrophages. Electron imaging revealed the thymus’ supporting structure of epithelial-reticular cells with long branching cytoplasmic processes joined by desmosomes. Macrophages, plasma cells, and lymphocytes were discovered in the gaps between the epithelial and reticular cell processes. Conclusion Involutory alterations include the loss of a clear boundary between cortex and medulla, the partial loss of interlobular septa, the accumulation of adipose tissue in connective tissue septa, and a significant rise in the number of Hassall’s corpuscles in the medulla. The aged thymus, replaced by adipose tissue and fibrosis, becomes a primary driver of the increased vulnerability to infection, cancer, and autoimmune disorders observed in the aged sheep.