Comparative Morphohistological Study of Pancreatic Ducts in Rabbits and Guinea Pigs

Document Type : Original Article

Author

collage of vet med ,university of basrah dep of anatomy and histology

Abstract

The study aims to determine the morphology and histology of the duct system in pancreases ofrabbits and guinea pigs as two important experimental models in diverse medical investigations. To perform this aim, eight adult animals of each species have been collected and used. Animals were euthanized and subsequent dissection was implemented to cut and collect the pancreases. Samples from these organs were fixed by using 10% neutral buffered formalin which then processed routinely to prepare sections stained by either hematoxylin-eosin or Masson’s trichrome stains. Gross findings of the rabbit pancreas revealed an absence of major pancreatic duct and the persistence of only minor pancreatic duct as well as an accessory small pancreatic duct, whereas, in guinea pigs, the only minor pancreatic duct was detected. Microscopically, similar branched ducts were found but with some differences between the two species. In both, it was started with centroacinar cells, then connected to intercalated ducts that were lined with cuboidal cells (in the guinea pig, ducts were surrounded with myoepithelial cells). The latter converged to form interlobular ducts lined with columnar cells (in guinea pig, ducts showed goblet cells and subepithelial mucous glands). The larger interlobular ducts were converged to form a minor pancreatic duct that was lined with tall columnar epithelium with goblet cells surrounded by connective tissue (in guinea pigs, also mucous glands were found invested in the surrounding fibrous tissue with the presence of circularly arranged smooth muscle fibers).

Keywords

Main Subjects