Postnatal Development of the Rabbit Uterine Tube (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Cell and Tissue, Faculty of veterinary medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 17526, Egypt.

2 Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 17526, Egypt

Abstract

The uterine tubes receive the ovum and provide the appropriate environment for its fertilization. The female reproductive tracts of 18 completely healthy white New Zealand rabbits, from postnatal day one (P1) to P120 were used. At P1 the reproductive tract appeared as a thin, straight tube without any line of demarcation between the uterine tube and the uterus. However, at P7, this demarcation was observed. At P7, the uterine tube started to differentiate histologically into an infundibulum, ampulla and isthmus. The mucosal folds started to develop at P7. They were represented by few and short folds which increased in number, height and branching with the advancement of age. At P1, the uterine tube was lined with short columnar showing few mitotic figures. At P7, various degrees of epithelial cell differentiation were demonstrated by the presence of ciliogenic activity in all regions. At P14, ciliated cells with long cilia could be detected. In addition, the secretory cells were demonstrated first in the ampulla and the isthmus. At P120, the ciliated cells represent the majority of the infundibular epithelium; however, the secretory cells were predominantly at the isthmus. Scanning electron microscope was applied to elucidate the 3D structural features of the ampulla. We observed that the surface epithelium at P7 showed few ciliogenic cells and abundant secretory cells. With the progress of age, the number of ciliated cells increased.

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Journal of Veterinary Anatomy
Volume 18, Issue 2
October 2025
Pages 21-34

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