Morphological and histochemical observations on the duodenal glands of eight wild ungulate species native to North America

• Published in: American Journal of Anatomy
• Main Author: Krause, W. J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1981
• Subjects: Alces alces
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aja.1001620208; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faja.1001620208; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aja.1001620208

Abstract The duodenal glands of the species examined ( Alces alces, Ovis canadensis, Cervus canadensis, Oreamnos americanus, Bison bison, Antilocapra americana, Odocoileus virginianas, Odocoileus heminous ) are confined primarily to the submucosa of the small intestine. In one species, the moose, a significant population of secretory tubules also is observed in the mucosa. The ducts of the duodenal glands pierce the overlying muscularis mucosae to empty most often independently into the intestinal lumen. Those of the bison, unlike the other species examined, drain into intestinal glands. The duodenal glands consist primarily of a simple columnar epithelium, the cells of which contain basally positioned round or oval nuclei. The lumina of scattered duodenal glands in the pronghorn and to some extent those of the moose, white‐tailed deer, and mule deer may be extremely dilated, and the surrounding epithelium thin and attenuated. Component cells of the duodenal glands of all the species examined show remarkably similar ultrastructural features. They exhibit scattered profiles of rough endoplasmic reticulum, dilated cisternae of which contain an electrondense, amorphous material. Numberous well‐developed Golgi complexes occupy the supranuclear region together with transport vesicles and forming secretory granules. Electron‐dense, membrane‐bound secretory granules generally are concentrated in the apical cytoplasm immediately subjacent to the cell membrane. The apical cell membrane exhibits short, scattered microvilli; and the basal cell membrane is smooth without apparent specialization. Histochemically, the duodenal glands of most species examined in this study consist of a heterogeneous population. The majority of the glands of the moose, elk, mountain goat, bison, pronghorn, and white‐tailed deer elaborate a neutral mucin, whereas scattered individual glands, tubules or cells also produce acid mucins. Cells near the terminations of the ducts of the bighorn sheep are the only elements to produce acid mucins in the ...