The morphological analysis of the haematopoietic microenvironment of the bone marrow at foetuses from preterm pregnancies.

The aim of the study was morphological assessment of the haematopoietic microenvironment of the bone marrow in foetuses from preterm pregnancies. For the morphological assessment the bone marrow was taken from sternum during an autopsy examination. After standard preparation, cellular elements of individual developmental lines were identified with the application of immunohistochemical methods. Evaluation of the bone marrow stroma elements was performed on the basis of configuration of the vascular sinuses, connective tissue elements, mutual topographic relations and integrin occurrence. The assessment of the argentophilic fibres was carried out with impregnation with silver according to the Gomori method. The configuration of the vascular sinuses was defined with morphometric evaluation with MicroImage-Olympus Kit. Identification of the 'young vascular forms' was performed with immunohistochemical methods with the use of endothelial cell antibodies and factor VIII. The presence of integrin was discovered in individual megakaryocytes, endothelial cells of sinus vessels and singular cells forming a stroma. However, no differences were found in the quantity of argentophilic fibres. The study revealed that ontogenetic development of haematopoietic tissue not only consists in alterations connected with the maturing process and cellular differentiation, but in topographic changes as well.