Macroscopic, Microscopic and Histomorphometric Analysis
of Intestine, Liver and Pancreas of Ostrich (Struthio camelus) with Advancement of Age and Sex
Zaima Umar1,
Anas Sarwar Qureshi1*, Rehmat Ullah Shahid1
and Farah Deeba2
1Department
of Anatomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 2Department
of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author:
anas-sarwar@uaf.edu.pk
Abstract
The primary goal of this study was to document
the gross morphological and histological structure and histomorphometrical
measurements of the intestines and digestive glands of ostrich (Struthio
camelus) in relation to advancing age and sex. A total of 40 clinically
healthy ostriches of either sex [(20
males, 20 females comprising of two age groups, viz, immature (1 month to
2.4 years) and adult (2.5 to 10 years)] of equal size were selected. Immediately
after collection, morphological studies were carried out on all organs.
Histological and histometrical studies were conducted on paraffin-embedded
tissue sections with Image J® analysis software. Macroscopic
parameters of the intestines, liver and pancreas invariably showed a rapid
increase (P<0.05) during immature age but maintained a plateau with negligible
increment in an adult age group. Contrary to other avian species, the length of
the small intestine in adult ostriches was 706 cm and the large intestine was
1218 cm which means the length of the large intestine is 1.73 times greater than
the small intestine. The length of the colon is also larger than the comparable
avian species which increases the digestion of fiber. Thicknesses of
all layers of intestines and
various parameters of digestive glands had a significant (P<0.05) increase in
adults compared to immature ostriches. The growth and maturation of digestive
organs in ostriches were not related to sex in each age group. These findings
can be extremely beneficial for strategic manipulation of feed and nutrition to
enhance the growth rate and diagnose pathological processes.
To Cite This Article:
Umar Z, Qureshi AS,
Shahid RU and Deeba F, 2021.
Macroscopic, microscopic and histomorphometric analysis of intestine, liver and
pancreas of ostrich (Struthio camelus)
with advancement of age and sex. Pak Vet J, 41(3): 313-320.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2020.029