Ultrastructural study of the endocrine cells of the abomasum mucosa in pre-ruminant calves.
During a systematic ultrastructural study on the endocrine/paracrine cells of the gastro-intestinal tract of ruminants, the aim of present work is to describe these cells in the abomasum of suckling calf. Taking into account all the cytological details, and especially the morphological appearance and the cytochemical reactivity of secretory granules, several endocrine cell types can be distinguished. Some of them (EC, D, D1) are common to all three of the glandular regions, whereas others are typical of cardiac and proper gastric glands: they are ECL, X, A-like and a fourth type, whose classification is uncertain. The last type (G cells) is detectable in pyloric glands only. The cardiac and proper gastric glands of the suckling calf abomasum contain two additional cell types, not present in bulls, A-like cells and the fourth type, and contain D1 cells which form a heterogeneous family. These data show a morphofunctional similarity between the abomasum of the suckling calf and the stomach of non-ruminant mammals.
D000018:Abomasum / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002417:Cattle; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000166:cytology*; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000648:ultrastructure*