Premium
Morphology of the genital organs of the female red‐rumped agouti ( Dasyprocta leporina , Linnaeus, 1758) during estrous cycle phases and in advanced pregnancy
Author(s) -
de Oliveira Gleidson Benevides,
de Araújo Júnior Hélio Noberto,
dos Santos Sousa Rejane,
Bezerra Ferdinando Vinícius Fernandes,
dos Santos Amilton Cesar,
de Moura Carlos Eduardo Bezerra,
Silva Alexandre Rodrigues,
de Oliveira Rocha Hugo Alexandre,
de Oliveira Moacir Franco
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.21027
Subject(s) - vagina , biology , estrous cycle , cervix , anatomy , uterus , follicular phase , luteal phase , clitoris , columnar cell , epithelium , endocrinology , cancer , genetics
The study investigated the gross and microscopic anatomy of the genital organs of 20 agoutis at different stages of the estrous cycle and four in the final trimester of pregnancy. Specimens were euthanized and their reproductive organs were fixed in a 4% paraformaldehyde or 2.5% glutaraldehyde solution and submitted to routine histological techniques for light and scanning electron microscopy. In the ovary, during the proestrus phase, we observed developing follicles and corpus luteum (CL) in regression; during estrus, there were Graafian follicles; during metestrus, there was a hemorrhagic corpus, whereas in diestrus, there was a mature CL . The uterus was partially double because the cervix was cranially septate but caudally, the septum disappeared, forming a single ostium that opened into the vagina. Changes occurred along the estrous cycle in the uterine and vaginal epithelia, that is, an increase in the uterine epithelium height accompanied by an increase of thickness of the vaginal epithelium during the follicular phase and a decrease of thickness of both epithelia during the luteal phase. The endometrial lining was composed of a simple cuboidal epithelium to simple columnar epithelium with basal nuclei. The vaginal mucosa consisted of epithelium that varied from nonkeratinized stratified squamous (luteal phase) to keratinized stratified squamous (follicular phase). The clitoris was external to the vagina. It presented two protruding lateral keratinized spicules and a centralized urethra, with no common parts between the urinary and genital tracts. Anatomical and histological changes were observed mainly in the cervix, vagina and spicules of the clitoris during the EC.