Morphological and Morphometric Parameters of the Liver of Newborn Male Rabbits Alexander

Introduction. At present, the study of age-related issues of the liver structure in animals is one of the most important objectives of morphology, since liver diseases occupy one of the leading places among the nosologies causing death of newborn animals, in particular rabbits. At the same time, although the data on the micromorphological structure of the digestive tract of rabbits is extensive, the data on the age-related anatomy of the liver in the animals under study is scarce in the available literature. The aim of the paper is to determine the morphofunctional features of the liver of newborn male rabbits.

Materials and Methods. The objects of the study were newborn male rabbits of the “butterfly” breed (n=9), who had no deviations in development and constitution. To establish the anatomical and topographic features and morphometric parameters of the liver of the animals under study, the standard anatomical dissection, Pirogov's cuts, macromorphometric and statistical research methods were used.

Results. It has been established that the liver of newborn male rabbits of “butterfly” breed has segmental nature, the caudate process is large, distinct from the other lobes. The papillary process is oval in shape, poorly developed, adjacent to the lesser curvature of the stomach. The quadrate and right lobes of the liver are well developed, and the left lobes are less developed, which entails the horizontal position of the organ. The ligamentous attachments of the liver are well developed. A round ligament of liver (ligamentum teres hepatis) with fetal hepatic vessels can be distinguished. The linear and weight parameters of the liver are characterised by the small absolute and large relative values. The liver index is inversely proportional to the body weight of an animal and is 5.91.

Discussion and Conclusion. The obtained morphological and morphometric data is aimed at establishing the standard liver parameters of the clinically healthy newborn male rabbits of the “butterfly” breed. The liver boundaries have been defined taking into account the length, width, thickness parameters of each lobe separately. The organ topography has been defined including the skeletotopy, holotopy and syntopy of the individual lobes and processes of the liver.

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