Anatomical and Ultrastructural Studies on the Dromedary Camel Cecum

A.M.A., Elseory; A.M., Ali; A.A.M., Taha; M.O., Elhassan; Z.H., Ibrahim; F.A., Alshanbari; A., Althnaian

doi:10.21608/javs.2024.270202.1318

Anatomical and Ultrastructural Studies on the Dromedary Camel Cecum

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, , P.O. Box 400 Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum. PO Box: 32, Postal code: 13314 Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan

² Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum. PO Box: 32, Postal code: 13314 Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan

³ Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bahri, Khartoum, Sudan

⁴ Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Postal code 11115, Khartoum, Sudan

⁵ Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

⁶ Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, , P.O. Box 400 Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

10.21608/javs.2024.270202.1318

Abstract

The main functions of the mammalian cecum include microbial digestion of soluble and insoluble carbohydrates and the absorption of significant amounts of water and electrolytes. The present study was carried out to investigate the gross anatomy and electron microscopy of the cecum in adult camels (Camelus dromedarius), which still needs to be clarified. The study was conducted using samples collected from camels slaughtered at an abattoir in Omdurman, Sudan. The camel cecum, which occupied the right part of the abdomen, was situated caudally to the abomasum and directed caudally to the pelvis. It was short and S-shaped and began largely at the ceco-colic junction at the level of the fifth lumbar vertebra and became smaller towards its apex. Morphometrically, camel cecum constituted 3.2% of the large intestine length, 1% of both the small intestine and large intestine length, and 0.10% of the long axis of the animal body. Ultra-structurally, the cecal mucosa showed several folds and was lined by a simple columnar epithelium with many intestinal cells (enterocytes) and goblet cells; two types of enterocytes were shown: type one contained a dark cytoplasm and type two had a light cytoplasm. In conclusion, the cecum in dromedary camels was generally similar in structure to other domestic animals; however, they have a shorter cecum compared to ruminants.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Anatomy and Histology

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