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Quantitative study of the optic nerve in buffaloes ( Bos bubalis )
Author(s) -
KASSAB Ahmed,
AOYAMA Masato,
SUGITA Shoei
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1046/j.1344-3941.2002.00009.x
Subject(s) - optic nerve , uranyl acetate , electron microscope , transmission electron microscopy , electron micrographs , anatomy , materials science , chemistry , optics , biology , physics , nanotechnology
The total number, distribution and size of the optic axons of the buffalo ( Bos bubalis ) were studied in five optic nerves using light and transmission electron microscopes. Semithin sections were cut at 0.40 μm with an ultramicrotome and stained with 0.3% toluidine blue for light microscopic analysis. The ultrathin sections were cut at 70 nm, mounted on copper mesh grids (No. 200) and stained with saturated solution of uranyl acetate dihydrate and examined with the transmission electron microscope. The optic axons were assessed in 10 regions of roughly equal area. The total number of optic fibers was estimated on semithin and ultrathin sections. The measurements of the axonal diameters were made on electron micrographs taken from various regions across the optic nerve. The mean value of the total number of optic axons calculated was 1 397 099 ± 10 995 and 1 584 255 by light and electron microscopes, respectively. There was very little difference in the density of the optic fibers between the 10 regions of the optic nerve. The optic nerve area ranged from 18.2 to 22.4 mm 2 (mean, 21.3 mm 2 ). The diameters of the optic axons ranged from 0.5 to 12.3 μm (mean, 3.3 μm).