A.M. Marwa-Babiker1,2, T.A. Althnaian1 and A.M. Ali1
1Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 400 Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
2Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bahri, Khartoum-North, Sudan,
P.O. Box 012, Khartoum North 12217, Sudan
ABSTRACT
Spleen development in the camel foetus was studied during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters of gestation using histological techniques. Ten spleens of camel foetuses were collected from Omran slaughterhouse, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The samples were prepared by routine histological procedures and stained by the general histological stain (H and E) and some other special stains including Van Geison’s for collagenous fibres, Verhoff’s for elastic fibres, Gordon and Sweet for reticular fibres. At the 1st trimester, the spleen capsule was composed of fine connective tissue fibres, in the 2nd trimester the capsule and trabeculae showed thick connective tissue, while in the 3rd trimester the capsule also showed smooth muscle fibres and surrounded with large amount of adipose tissue. The parenchyma, at the 1st trimester consisted of randomly distributed lymphocytes and macrophages. At the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, it was arranged as white and red pulps. Megakaryocytes observed previously in the red pulp of adult dromedary camel were seen in the red pulp at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters of gestation. It was concluded that the spleen showed very important histological developmental changes throughout the three gestational stages.
Key words: Camel, development, foetus, gestational stage, histology, spleen
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