Mahmood, S., Mohammed, G., Sultan, G. (2024). Tracking Appearance and Development of the Ossification Centers in Cranium and Skull Base Bones of Iraqi Sheep Fetuses (Ovis aries) Using Double Stain Method. Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 9(3), 102-117. doi: 10.21608/javs.2024.295094.1346
Saffanah Khuder Mahmood; Ghufran Hazim Mohammed; Ghada Abdulrhman Sultan. "Tracking Appearance and Development of the Ossification Centers in Cranium and Skull Base Bones of Iraqi Sheep Fetuses (Ovis aries) Using Double Stain Method". Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 9, 3, 2024, 102-117. doi: 10.21608/javs.2024.295094.1346
Mahmood, S., Mohammed, G., Sultan, G. (2024). 'Tracking Appearance and Development of the Ossification Centers in Cranium and Skull Base Bones of Iraqi Sheep Fetuses (Ovis aries) Using Double Stain Method', Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 9(3), pp. 102-117. doi: 10.21608/javs.2024.295094.1346
Mahmood, S., Mohammed, G., Sultan, G. Tracking Appearance and Development of the Ossification Centers in Cranium and Skull Base Bones of Iraqi Sheep Fetuses (Ovis aries) Using Double Stain Method. Journal of Applied Veterinary Sciences, 2024; 9(3): 102-117. doi: 10.21608/javs.2024.295094.1346
Tracking Appearance and Development of the Ossification Centers in Cranium and Skull Base Bones of Iraqi Sheep Fetuses (Ovis aries) Using Double Stain Method
Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
Receive Date: 03 June 2024,
Revise Date: 22 June 2024,
Accept Date: 25 June 2024
Abstract
The skull is a group of flat and irregular bones that protect the brain and special sense organs. The shape of the head depends on the shape of the skull, which is closely related to certain structural and phenotypic features commonly used to identify and characterize different breeds of animals, their genetic profiles, and their relationship with the surrounding environment. 29 samples of indigenous Iraqi sheep fetuses were collected through daily visits to the slaughterhouses in Mosul city. The crown-rump length was measured to determine gestational ages in days. In the current study, the gestational ages of the fetuses ranged between 40 and 71 days, and a crown-rump length between 2.2 and 17 cm was used to accurately determine the locations of the ossification centers using the double stain (alizarin red S and alizarin blue stain) using an anatomical microscope. Histological examination of the head of the fetus was to determine the different stages of ossification. At 42 days of gestation, several primary ossification centers appeared in the right frontal bone near the right orbit. At 45 days of gestation, ossification centers appeared in the zygomatic processes of the temporal bone and the parietal bone. At 48 days of gestation, ossification centers appeared in the temporal bone. At 50 days of gestation, ossification centers appeared in the sphenoid bone. At 57 days of gestation, ossification centers appeared in the squamous and basilar parts of the occipital bone. At 61 days of gestation, the ossification of the inter-parietal bone and the occipital condyles were observed. Histological examination showed that the ossification center consisted of separate groups of osteoblasts in the membranous neurocranium, which ossified intramembranous. In contrast, the base of the skull was cartilaginous in origin, which ossified the endochondral. The very significant result of this study is that the appearance of ossification centers and their development happen within the seventh to ninth weeks of pregnancy, which makes this period the most dangerous time for bone growth, particularly cranium and skull base bones. Thus, it’s important to prevent giving any medicine or treatment during that period, which might interrupt or delay this vigorous progression.
ALIESFEHANI, T., 2015. Modified double skeletal staining protocols with Alizarinred and Alcian blue in laboratory animals. Annals of Military & Health Sciences Research, 13 (2):76-81. [available at]
ARENCIBIA, A., RIVERO, M.A., GIL, F., RAMIREZ, J.A., CORBERA, J.A., RAMIREZ, G. and VAZQUEZ, J.M., 2005. Anatomy of the cranioencephalic structures of the camel (Camelus dromedarius L.) by imaging techniques: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Anatomia, Histologia, Fetuslogia, 34 (1):52-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0264.2004.00572.x
ATABO, S.M., UMAR, A.A., SHEHU, S.A. and ABUBAKAR, A.A., 2020. Comparative ossification of the skull in three Nigerian breeds of sheep: an alizarin technique. Exploratory Animal & Medical Research, 10 (2):195-203. [available at]
ATABO, S.M., UMAR, A.A., SHEHU, S.A., ABUBAKAR, A.A., DANMAIGORO, A. and MUAZU, T.A., 2022. Prenatal skull radiography and calvaria histogenesis in Uda and Yankasa breeds of sheep. Sokoto Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 20 (5):28-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/sokjvs.v20i5.3
DE LA BARRA, R., CARVAJAL, A.M. and MARTÍNEZ, M.E., 2020. Variability of cranial morphometrical traits in Suffolk Down Sheep. Austral journal of veterinary sciences, 52 (1):25-31. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0719-81322020000100105
DEY, P., 2023. Fixation of histology samples: principles, methods and types of fixatives. In Basic and advanced laboratory techniques in histopathology and cytology:3-18. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6616-3_1
DYCE, K.M., SACK, W.O. and WENSING, C.J.G., 2009. Textbook of veterinary anatomy-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences: 16, 375, 644, 728-742. [available at]
FAHRIOGLU, S.L., VANKAMPEN, N. and ANDALORO, C., 2023. Anatomy, head and neck, sinus function and development. In Stat Pearls [Internet]. Stat Pearls Publishing. [available at]
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO), 2007. Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources and Interlaken Declaration on Animal Genetic Resources, Rome, Italy.
GÜNDEMIR, O., DURO, S., JASHARI, T., KAHVECIOĞLU, O., DEMIRCIOĞLU, İ. and MEHMETI, H., 2020. A study on morphology and morphometric parameters on skull of the Bardhoka autochthonous sheep breed in Kosovo. Anatomia, Histologia, Fetuslogia, 49 (3):365-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ahe.12538
HENA, S.A., 2012. Radiographic studies of developing calvaria at prenatal stages in one-humped camel. Sokoto Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 10 (1):13-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/sokjvs.v10i1.3
IBRAHIM, S.M., HANDOOL, K.O., ABDUL, A.A., ABU, J. and YUSOF, S.M., 2020. Histological evaluation of the possible role of Na+/H+ entiporter and anion exchanger in endochondral ossification activities of secondary bone healing in rats. Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 34, (2):233-240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33899/ijvs.2019.125832.1165
KÜNZEL, W., BREIT, S. and OPPEL, M., 2003. Morphometric investigations of breed‐specific features in feline skulls and considerations on their functional implications. Anatomia, histologia, fetuslogia, 32 (4):218-223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0264.2003.00448.x
LAKSHMI, M.S., RAO, T.C. and RAJALAKSHMI, K., 2012. Prenatal development of membranous neurocranium in buffalo. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 82 (10):1179-1181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v82i10.24293
LAXSHMI, M.S., RAO, T.C. and RAJALAKSHMI, K., 2012. Time and order of appearance of ossification in the skull of prenatal buffalo. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 82 (5):489-490. [available at]
MAHMOOD, S.K., 2007. Fetuslogical development of double facial bones in native sheep. M.Sc. thesis, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq.
MARGHOUB, A., LIBBY, J., BABBS, C., VENTIKOS, Y., FAGAN, M.J. and MOAZEN, M., 2019. Characterizing and modeling bone formation during mouse calvarial development. Physical review letters, 122 (4):048103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.048103
MOGHEISEH, A., KAMALI, Y., HASHEMIPOUR, S.M.A., KHETVAN, R., JAFARIRAD, N., ROUINTAN, M., MOHIT, H., AHRARI-KHAFI, M.S., JANI, M. and NOWROZI, M., 2023. Evaluation of the skeletal ossification of sheep fetuses at different gestational ages (20–95 days) using radiography and whole-mount skeletal staining. Small Ruminant Research, 229:107129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2023.107129
MOORE, K.L., PERSAUD, T.V.N. and TORCHIA, M.G., 2018. The Developing Human-E-Book: The Developing Human-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences:189-390. [available at]
mustafa, k.n., baker, i.a. and alkass, j.e., 2022. performance of karadi sheep in kurdistan region/iraq: a review. mesopotamia journal of agriculture, 50 (4):127-138. doi: https://10.33899/magrj.2022.1
POPOOLA, M.A. and OSENI, S.O., 2018. Multifactorial discriminant analysis of cephalic morphology of indigenous breeds of sheep in Nigeria. Slovak Journal of Animal Science, 51 (2):45-51. [available at]
SALIH, S.A. and AHMED, N.S., 2022. A study of primary ossification centers in the hind limbs of Awasi sheep fetuses by double stains method and radiography. Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 36 (3):591-597. DOI: https://vetmedmosul.com/article_173288.html
SHAWULU, J.C., KWARI, H.D. and OLOPADE, J.O., 2011. Morphology of the bones of the skull in the Sahel ecotypes of goats (Capra hircus) in Nigeria. Journal of Veterinary Anatomy, 4 (2):1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/jva.2011.45183
SOANA, S., BERTONI, G., GNUDI, G. and BOTTI, P., 1996. Osteogenesis of the fetal bovine skull. Anatomia, Histologia, Fetuslogia, 25 (3):167-173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0264.1996.tb00078.x
SUCCU, S., CONTU, E., BEBBERE, D., GADAU, S.D., FALCHI, L., NIEDDU, S.M. and LEDDA, S., 2023. Fetal Growth and Osteogenesis Dynamics during Early Development in the Ovine Species. Animals, 13 (5):773. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050773
SUSAN, S., 2015. Gray’s Anatomy e-book: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice.
SUVARNA, K.S., LAYTON, C. and BANCROFT, J.D. 2018. Bancroft's theory and practice of histological techniques. Elsevier health sciences. 7th ed. Churchill Livingstone Elsevier Ltd., Shanghai, China: 609.
TEJA, E.R.R. and RAJENDRANATH, N., 2017. Identification of primary ossification centers in the skull of buffalo fetus by modified Alizarin Red-S method. Int J Livest Res, 7,(12):111-113. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/ijlr.20170717041511
VERNUNFT, A., EGGERT, A. and BRÜSSOW, K.P., 2022. Ultrasonographic monitoring of fetal growth and fetal weight calculation in sows during gestation. Agriculture, 13,(1):16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010016
VIMINI, R.J., FIELD, R.A., RILEY, M.L. and VARNELL, T.R., 1983. Effect of delayed bleeding after captive bolt stunning on heart activity and blood removal in beef cattle. Journal of animal science, 57, (3):628-631. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2527/jas1983.573628x