CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE EFFECTS ON IMMUNE FUNCTION OF EUROPEAN STARLINGS

We developed and tested a battery of immune function assays on adult E uropean starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) exposed to the immunotoxicant cyc lophosphamide (CY). Starlings were injected intraperitoneally for thre e consecutive days with saline or 20 mg/kg CY. Cyclophosphamide did no t affect body mass or packed cell volume. However, spleen to body mass ratios and the number of viable spleen cells were lower in CY-treated birds when compared to controls. Peripheral white blood cell numbers were reduced in CY-treated starlings, and the decrease affected all ce ll types. Phagocytic ability of macrophages cultured from peripheral b lood monocytes was impaired in cells from CY-treated birds. Additional ly, CY treatment resulted in decreased lymphocyte blastogenesis to the T-cell mitogen Concanavalin A, The hemagglutination response to sheep erythrocytes was lower in birds that had received CY. Thus, these imm unological methods detected chemically-induced immune dysfunction in s tarlings.