Morphometric and stereologic studies on blood platelets from five different mammalian species
Abstract
The present paper deals with the stereologic processing of intrathrombocytic localized, electronmicroscopically discernible alpha-granules, dense bodies (DB) and mitochondria, and their distribution in platelets from five species including man, dog, pig, sheep, and cat. It is pointed out that volume-, surface-, and numerical density of the three cytoplasmic organelles show a remarkable variation among the various mammals studied. In earlier investigations differences were also found for the same species concerning their functional thrombocytic behaviour. By means of the DB - i.e. specific platelet storage sites of the non-metabolic adenine nucleotides - it is indicated exemplary that simple relations cannot be established between the stereology of these organelles and the cellular reactivity upon exogenous stimulation in vitro.