Anatomical and Histological Study of Spleen in Giraffe

Spleen is the largest secondary immune organ in the body and is responsible for initiating immune reactions to blood borne antigens and for filtrating the blood of foreign materials and old or damaged red blood cells, these functions are carried out by the two main compartments of the spleen, the white pulp and the red pulp, which are vastly different in their architecture, vascular organization and cellular composition. An 18 month old female giraffe spleen was processed for both routine and special staining techniques revealed that it has a thick capsule and few trabeculae with its pulp composed of red and white germinal centers were not distinct other details were also discussed. Morphology of these compartments were described and their variation between species were also discussed.