Light and Electron Microscopic Features of the Kidney in Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus)

Nabipour, Abolghasem; Dehghani, Hesam

doi:10.21608/jva.2012.44887

Light and Electron Microscopic Features of the Kidney in Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran 91779-48974

10.21608/jva.2012.44887

Abstract

Kidneys are important organs that regulate the volume and composition of body fluids. In this study, some renal light and electron microscopic features were examined in 5 hedgehogs (Hemiechinus auritus). The right kidneys were processed for routine light microscopy, while the left kidneys were prepared for transmission electron microscopy. The kidney in this animal is bean-shaped and has a smooth surface. Light microscopy analysis revealed that the renal corpuscles are small dark red spherical bodies that have an average diameter of 82 μm. Podocytes contained a clear nucleus and had several large cytoplasmic primary processes, from which smaller secondary and tertiary processes emanate. The epithelium of the proximal convoluted tubule was simple cuboidal, which was covered at the apical surface by a brush border formed by sparse microvilli. Narrow intercellular spaces were observed between the cell membranes in the proximal convoluted tubule. Both descending and ascending loops of Henle were long and extended from cortex into the medulla. The distal convoluted tu- bule consisted of a simple cuboidal epithelium. These cells were covered by short microprojections at the apical surface, while at the basolateral side they had extensive plasma membrane infoldings with a few mitochondria. The juxtaglomerular (JG) and macula densa cells were present at the junction of distal tubules with afferent arterioles. The collecting ducts were lined with simple cuboidal epithelium. The cells of the medullary collecting duct had a few short apical microprojections and randomly oriented mitochondria. In this report, some histological and physiological features of individual components of nephrons in hedgehog have been discussed.

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