Donkeys in developing countries are usually used in transport and agriculture. They usually receive less attention compared to horses and little information is available about the pathology of many diseases including respiratory ones. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the incidence and pathological finding of airway inflammation in donkeys. A 73 of variable ages and sexes donkeys were used in the current study. They were subjected to postmortem examination of the lungs. Histopathological examination of lungs and lesion scoring for 7 variables including epithelial hyperplasia, Goblet cell metaplasia, basement membrane thickening, submucosal inflammatory cells, smooth muscle hyperplasia, peribronchiolar fibrosis and hemosiderin in small sized bronchi and bronchioles was performed. Presence of cartilaginous degeneration and bronchial associated lymphoid follicles (BALT) was also recorded. Airway inflammation in donkeys were reported in 87.6% of examined donkeys.Lesion scoring was high in epithelial hyperplasia (1.96 ± 0.08) smooth muscle hyperplasia (1.81 ± 0.09) and inflammatory cells infiltration (1.5 ± 0.08). Other variables had less severity. Peribronchial fibrosis was observed in 17 (26.56%) cases affected with a mild severity (0.32 ± 0.07). Cartilage degeneration and loss was found in 6 cases (9.37%) and BALT hyperplasia was found in 9 cases (14.06%). Presence of hemosiderin pigment around bronchioles was less frequently observed. The donkeys exhibits a high incidence of lower airway inflammation.
Key words: Donkeys; histopathology; airway inflammation; airway remodeling; lesion scoring
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