the smear were fixed in 95% (v/v)
methanol, re-dried and stained with MayeGrunwald Giemsa
(Egyptian Diagnostic Media, Cairo, Egypt). The phagocytic ratio
(PR) and phagocytic index (PI) were determined by enumerating
100 phagocytes per slide under a Nikon (Tokyo, Japan) light microscope
at a magnification of 400. The average of three slides
was calculated.