AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE

www.arccjournals.com / indianjournals.comIndian J. Anim. Res., 47 (5) : 435-438, 2013

GROSS AND HISTOMORPHOLOGIC STUDY OF MAGNUM IN ADULTINDIGENOUS CHICKEN (GALLUS DOMESTICS) OF ASSAM, INDIA

S.K. Bharti and A.K. Gautam

Department of Anatomy and HistologyBihar Veterinary College, Patna-800 014,India

Received: 19-03-2012 Accepted: 11-12-2012

ABSTRACTThe study was conducted to elucidate gross and histomorphological structure of magnum in

indigenous chicken of Assam. The magnum was abruptly larger and longer than other parts ofoviduct and it was most tortuous. The mucosa of magnum was lined by simple columnar ciliatedepithelium with primary and secondary folding .The propria-submucosa was packed with longbranched coiled tubular glands and it contained large amount of collagen fibres and somewhat lessamount of elastic fibres. PAS positive reaction was intense in glands of magnum and the central partof mucosal folds was moderate PAS positive.

Key words: Chicken, Gross, Histochemistry, Histomorphology, Magnum.

INTRODUCTIONIn the domestic fowl, the functional left

oviduct consists of five regions i.e. infundibulum,magnum, isthmus, uterus or shell gland and vagina.Among all, magnum, the longest and most coiledsegment of oviduct, is responsible for production ofseveral proteins including avidin, ovomucoid, andconalbumin(Mohammadpour and Keshtmandi,2008). Egg proteins play important role as a shockabsorber and insulator for developing embryo. Thestructure and function of magnum has beendocumented in a variety of the birds, such asdomestic fowl, Japanese quail and pigeon but thereis lack of information about indigenous chicken ofAssam. So this investigation is aimed to describethe gross and histological aspect of magnum inindigenous chicken of Assam.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThe present study was conducted on twenty

apparently healthy adult indigenous female chicken(Gallus domesticus) of Assam. The birds werepurchased locally and live weight of each bird wasrecorded at the time of procurement in departmentof Anatomy and Histology, College of VeterinaryScience, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara,Guwahati and were sacrificed as therecommendation of Gracey (1986). The location

and topographic position of the ovary and oviductwere recorded and the magnum was separated. Thegross anatomical characteristic of magnum wasstudied and the different biometrical measurementsviz. the length, breadth and thickness of magnumwere recorded with the help of Vernier Callipers. Afterrecording the biometrical values, the magnum wasfixed in 10 per cent neutral buffered formalinsolutionfor 12 to 24 hours for the histological andhistochemical study. Tissue pieces of 3 to 5 mm thickwere collected from magnum and processed by thestandard tissue processing technique advocated byLuna (1968). The paraffin embedded blocks of tissuewere cut in Rotary microtome at 4 to 6 micrometerthickness and the sections were stained with Mayer’sHaematoxylin and Eosin Stain for general tissuereaction, Mallory’s method for collagen, Gomori’smethod for reticulum, Hart’s method for elastic fibresand McManus method for glycogen (PAS). Epithelialheight and thickness of lamina propria-submucosa,tunica muscularis and tunica serosa of magnum wererecorded in Haematoxylin and Eosin (H & E) stainedsections as per standard methods of micrometry(Culling, 1974). Data on the gross and histologicalparameters were analysed by standard statisticalmethod as detailed by Snedecor and Cochran(1994).

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe transition of infundibulum into the

magnum was abrupt and was marked by a suddenincrease in diameter of the lumen. Its average weightwas 7.3340 ± 0.1519 g. It was the longest and mosttortuous component of the oviduct (Fig.1). Theaverage length recorded was 32.2610 ± 0.9226 cmwhich was slightly higher than that reported bySarma and Sarma (2001). However, the same wasreported by King and McLelland (1975) and Dyce

et al. (1987) as 34.00 cm and 30.00 cm respectively.The average weight, breadth and thickness were7.3340 ± 0.1519 g, 1.6200 ± 0.0296 cm and 1.0510± 0.0134 cm respectively.

The magnum of oviduct of adult indigenouschicken was highly developed in respect of length,breadth and thickness of the mucosal folds. Themucosal folds were tall and thick and were of twotypes: primary and secondary. However, primary,secondary and tertiary folds were reported by Surface(1912).

FIG.1. Photograph of female genital system of adult

indigenous chicken of Assam, showing the ovary (1),

infundibulum (2), funnel part (2a), tubular part (2b),

magnum (3), isthmus (4), uterus (5), vagina (6).

FIG.2. Photomicrograph of magnum showing

simple ciliated columnar epithelium () with basal nuclei

( ) H & E x400.

FIG.3. Photomicrograph of magnum showing the presenceof branched tubular glands (g) in lamina propria-submucosa.H& E X400

FIG.4. photomicrograph of magnum showing the presence

of collagen fibres( ) in lining epithelium, center of the folds,lamina propria-submucosa and tunica muscularis layer.Mallory’s Method X100

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The lamina epithelialis mucosae comprisedof simple ciliated columnar cells with few goblet cells.The nuclei of ciliated and secretory cells were ovaland round respectively and were located at the basalpart of the cells (Fig.2). Similar observation wasmade by Hodges (1974). Basement membrane oflamina epithelialis mucosae contained connectivetissue where the collagen fibres predominated. Theaverage thickness of epithelium (58.7800 ± 1.1919m) observed in the present investigation supportsthe finding of Richardson (1935) in fowl (10.00 –25.000 m).

FIG.5. Photomicrograph of magnum showing the presenceof reticular fibers ( ) in the centre of the folds, tunica

muscularis and tunica serosa layers.Gomori’s Method X100

FIG.6. photomicrograph of magnum showing the presence

of elastic fibers(’) in lamina propria-submucosa, center of

the folds, and blood vessels. Harts Method X100

The lamina propria-submucosa was packedwith long branched coiled tubular glands (Fig. 3).Their cells were pyramidal in shape and containedcoarse basophilic granules. These glands weresurrounded by richly vascularized loose connectivetissue. The lamina propria-submucosa containedlarge amount of collagen fibres (Fig. 4) and reticularfibres (Fig. 5). On the base of folds, less amount ofelastic fibres were also seen. Similar findings werereported by Richardson (1935), King and McLelland(1975), Nickel et al. (1977), Banks (1987) andDellmann and Carithers (1996) in fowl.

The tunica muscularis of magnum wascomposed of inner circular and outer longitudinalsmooth muscle layers and the tunica serosa wascomposed of loose connective tissue along with bloodand lymph vessels and nerve fibres. Both circularand longitudinal layers contained more amounts ofelastic fibres (Fig.6), reticular fibres and less amountof collagen fibers. Similar observations wererecorded by King and McLelland (1975) and Nickelet al. (1977).

The most significance presence of glycogenin the lining epithelium and glandular partwasexhibited byintense PAS positive reaction.Moderate PAS positive reaction was observed in thecentral part of the mucosal folds. Blood vesselsexhibited weekPAS positive reaction (Fig. 7).However, Aitken (1971) reported that secretorygranules in the tubular glands contained neutralmucopolysaccharides.

FIG.7. Photomicrograph of magnum showing pas positive

reaction (’) in lining epithelium, branched tubular glands,and lamina propria-submucosa.Mc Manus Method X100

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The average thickness of lining epithelium,lamina propria-submucosa, tunica muscularis andtunica serosa of the magnum of adult indigenous

chicken of Assam were 58.7800 ± 1.1919,3294.8400 ± 18.1809, 430.4400 ± 6.9400 and34.6120 ± 0.9800 m respectively.

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