Light and electron microscopic studies on the oviduct epithelium of the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

Abstract

Summary: The present study was undertaken to investigate the histochemical properties and light and electron microscopic morphology of the oviduct of laying Pekin ducks and Pekin ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle. The oviducts of five healthy, two-year-old adult laying Pekin ducks and five five-month-old Pekin ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle, obtained from the Farm of Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, constituted the material of the present study. The oviduct of the Pekin duck was segmented into five regions, namely, the infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, uterus and vagina. Along the oviduct, the tunica mucosa forms convolutions protruding into the lumen, and the height of these convolutions were determined to increase in the regions of the magnum and uterus. The lamina epithelialis was ascertained to be composed of ciliated and secretory cells. The lamina propria was filled with glands in the magnum, isthmus and uterus. In laying ducks, the PAS-positive reaction in the isthmus and the performic acid/Alcian blue pH 2.5 reaction in the magnum were determined to be very strong. On the other hand, due to the cells forming the lamina epithelialis and the proprial glands not having developed fully, these reactions were observed to be weak in ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle. In electron microscopic examinations, a single type of secretion granule, of medium electron density and varying size, was observed in the secretory cells of the lamina epithelialis. Electron dense secretion granules were present in the proprial glands of the magnum and isthmus, whereas proprial glands of the uterus contained electron light granules.