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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
The present work was performed to study the histology of caput, corpus and cauda epididymis of sheep and to explain the variations in terms of spermatozoan maturation that takes place in these regions. Epididymis was collected after dissection of testis by open method. After ligating the proximal end of ductus deferens and cauda and distal to the caput epididymis, the epididymis was excised separately and fixed in Buin’s fixative. The tissue was prepared as per standard histological procedure and five micron thick sections were cut by microtome and stained by Haematoxylene and Van-Gieson’s stain. The lining epithelium of the entire epididymal tubule was found to be pseudostratified with tall columnar cells of two types i.e. principal cells and basal cells. The basal cells, located near the basement membrane of epididymal tubule, were lesser in caput than cauda. Steriocilia were longest in the caput and were less prominent in the other two regions. Decrease in epithelial thickness and increase of tubular diameter was observed from caput to cauda epididymis, Thus, this study indicates that the caput with longest stereocilia having secretary, phagocytic and absorptive function plays a vital role in spermatozoan maturation, whereas the cauda having the thinnest pseudostratified epithelium with abundant surrounding smooth muscle cells and wider lumen serves well as a storehouse of spermatozoa.