ABSTRACT
Melanoblasts can enter an erratic migratory pathway during embryogenesis and it creates a clinical condition known as melanosis. Studies involving melanosis in multiple organs are rare. The aim of this paper is to describe a case of multicentric melanosis in a broiler resulting in animal condemnation at slaughter. Samples from diverse organs originating from a Cobb broiler, 48-49 days of age, were sent to Laboratório de Patologia Animal from Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo for histopathological avaliation. This animal was condemned in line inspection due to multifocal black areas of pigmentation. At microcopic avaliation, multifocal melanin in moderate-intense amount in all the organs stricken with macroscopic black lesions was noted. Sections of pigmented areas were negative for Prussian Blue and no neoplasic cells were found. Pigmentation of the skin in a broiler from the Ocident is rare because the white/yellow skin was selected through genetic enhancement, but there is some data about which mutations unleash melanosis in lineages selected to not have pigmentation. The broiler had multicentric melanosis and this alteration doesn't change functional activity of the stricken organs and doesn't represent any risk for human health, but the organs with this lesion were condemned for human consumption due to their macroscopic appearance.
Keywords:
chicken; melanization; hyperpigmentation; melanin
