الفهرس 
Acknowledgement
Gross morphologyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
This study is carried on 61 female Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) for studying the morphological and histological changes of the oviduct during the post-hatching period.
- The gross morphology of the left oviduct in this work revealed that the highly convoluted mature oviduct of quail occupies the left half of the body cavity. It extends from the caudolateral side of the left ovary till its termination in the urodeum of the cloaca.
- According to the morphological features, the adult oviduct can be dividing into five different parts namely: the infundibulum, the magnum, the isthmus, the uterus and the vagina. Each part is characterized by its external shape, diameter, mucosal folds and glands. The process of development of the oviduct in quail during the post-hatching period consists of three stages: undifferentiated, differentiated and adult stage, which contains the resting phase.
- The undifferentiated stage complete its develop as cranial, middle and caudal parts. It begins from day of hatching till 25 days age. However, birds at 30 days old lay in intermediate position of undifferentiated and differentiated stages. In the differentiated stage, the left oviduct reaches its five parts at 35 days age and continues to reach maturity at 40 days old, due to faster development of the oviduct at this stage. The adult stage continues from 50 days old (may be before that) till 6 month aged, which some birds appear in resting phase.
- The infundibulum is found to consist of a wide funnel part and a narrow tubular part. The tubular part connects gradually with long magnum, which reduced in length due to the attachment of the ventral ligament of oviduct. Then the magnum is attached to the uterus through a short isthmus.
Summary 394
- The uterus is the widest part of the oviduct, where a full grown egg is completed in its lumen. The pigmentation of the shell of the egg of quail occurred within the lumen of uterus. These pigments reach the wall of the uterus via special vessels, which travel through the dorsal ligament of the oviduct. The last part of the left oviduct is the vagina, which terminate in the urodeum of the cloaca.
- The uterovaginal junction lies between the uterus and the cranial part of the vagina, and contains the sperm host gland. The vagina has strong sphincter that prevents descending of spermatozoa into the vaginal lumen.
- The histological examination of the left oviduct revealed that the duct passes into 3 stages; the undifferentiated stage from day of hatching till 25 days old. The differentiated stage from 30 days old till 40 days old and the adult stage which includes 50 days, 4 and 6 months old quail. In the undifferentiated stage, the oviduct is subdivided into cranial, middle and caudal parts. The lumen is narrow and the mucosa shows few and low mucosal folds. The different layers of the wall of the oviduct are undifferentiated into distinct tunics. Their walls are represented by a single layer of simple columnar epithelial cells resting on subepithelial undifferentiated mesenchymal cells with many mitotic divisions. At 20 days old, the mucosa is thrown into distinct mucosal folds and the ciliated and secretory cells are first appeared at this age. The mesenchymal cells in the lamina propria are arranged to form the glands. At 25 days old, the muscular coat is well-developed and begins to differentiate into two distinct layers.
- At differentiated stage, the left oviduct becomes more differentiated into its tunics but still subdivided into cranial, middle and caudal parts at 30 days old. The lamina epithelialis consists of ciliated cells with long cilia and secretory cells. The tubular glands begin to develop and open between the epithelial cells. The Tunica muscularis begins to develop into inner circular and outer
longitudinal layers of smooth muscle fibers. At35 days old, the oviduct is completely differentiated into its final five parts.
- The whole duct is greatly increased in the diameter and the thickness of its wall. The mucosal folds are formed of primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary folds in some areas. The epithelium is simple columnar type and is consisted of four main cell types; ciliated cells, secretory cells, few “peg cells” or intercallary cells and basal cells. The whole duct contains glands, while at the most cranial part (funnel part of the infundibulum) and the last caudal part (vagina) are devoid from any gland. These glands are lined by simple columnar cells with basal nucleus and many secretory granules. Highly organized vessels (glomus) are found between the glands. The tunica muscularis consists of thick inner circular and thin outer longitudinal smooth muscle fibers.
- In adult stage, the infundibulum is divided into funnel part and tubular part (neck region). The wall of the funnel part of the infundibulum is thin and gradually increases in thickness toward tubular part of the infundibulum. The tunica mucosa is arranged into numerous short branched primary and secondary folds. The lamina epithelialis consists of three types of cells, ciliated cells with long cilia; secretory cells cover by microvilli and few intercalary cells are interspersed singly between these cells. The lamina propria of the funnel part is devoid of any glands, while that of the neck region is made up mainly of tubular glands. Some of the glands are lined by cuboidal to low columnar darkly stained cells, while other glands are lined by lightly stained cells and another group of glands form of a mixture of light and dark cells. The cytoplasm of secretory cells appears bright red with PAS and gives strong reaction with Alcian blue. The epithelium of neck region appears green in color with Crossmon’s Trichrome.
- The Tunica mucosa of the cranial and caudal parts of the magnum is arranged into long and wide primary folds that provide with numerous secondary ones with narrow lumen are observed between them. The epithelium consists of variable numbers of alternating ciliated and non ciliated secretory cells that fill with secretory granules, between these cells the intercalary cells possess no cilia. Numerous basal cells are demonstrated in the basal part of the epithelium. The histochemical analysis reveals that presence of strong PAS-AB positive granules in the epithelium of the magnum. Lipid is recognized in the epithelium and glands by sudan black. However, green color is noticed at the epithelium of the cranial part of the magnum with Crossmon’s Trichrome stain. The lamina propria contains well-developed tubular branched glands. Some secretory granules of variable size and density are observed at the lumen of the magnum that indicates a merocrine mode of secretion.
- The mucosa of the isthmus is oriented into longitudinal branched primary and secondary folds. The lamina epithelialis is made up of alternating ciliated and non ciliated secretory cells, in addition to basal cells are demonstrated. The cytoplasm of the secretory cells shows strong PAS- AB positive reaction. Lipid is recognized in the epithelium and glands by sudan black.
- The luminal surface of the uterus shows numerous long leaf-like folds branched into primary and secondary one. Lamina epithelialis arranges in two rows giving the epithelium a pseudostratified ciliated columnar appearance with short cilia. The apical part of the cells shows positive reaction with PAS and Alcian blue, in addition to presence of brown pigments in the epithelium. The tubular glands are filled with the secretion, which give positive reaction with PAS and Alcian blue. The Tunica muscularis is thicker than that of the magnum and isthmus. Melanocytes with dark black pigments aggregate in the wall of the uterus.
- The vaginal wall is thicker than that of the other parts of the oviduct. The luminal surface of the vagina shows more slender, numerous and narrow longitudinal mucosal folds which carry secondary folds. The lamina epithelialis is formed of ciliated columnar epithelium. The lamina propria is devoid of any glands. Tunica muscularis is thick consisted of intermingled smooth muscle fibers that arrange in circular, longitudinal and oblique pattern.
- The birds in the resting phase at the age of 6 months old, the oviduct is reduced in length and diameter than that seen in the laying birds of the same age. The glands are reduced and peripherally situated. These glands decrease in number, size and have narrow lumen.
- At the peak of reproduction, the mucosa of the oviduct tends to change the old epithelial cells by newly formed ones by the system of growth and replacement. This system helps the oviduct to increase the surface area of the different parts of the duct and to replace its epithelial cells.
- In order to examine the fine arterial vasculature of the glands, serum indian ink is injected in the left ventricle of the heart to reach all the arterial blood vessels of the bird. So, all organs appear black in color.The glands of the oviduct are found mainly in the magnum, isthmus and uterus. These partsare examined for the fine distribution of the fine arterial blood supply of these glands.
- This study contains 9 tables, 39 anatomical figures and 374histological figures by the light microscope, in addition to 49 figures by the scanning electron microscopy.