ABSTRACT
Camels (416 pregnant, 118 non-involuted post partum and 730 non-pregnant) were examined post mortem. Large follicles (greater than 10 mm), small follicles (5-10 mm) and non-functional ovaries were observed in 144 (20.7%), 127 (18.3%) and 424 (61.0%) respectively out of 695 normal non-pregnant organs. Season did not exert any significant influence on the frequency of these groups. Recently formed and regressing CL after sterile mating were occasionally seen. Corpora albicantia (3-15 mm) were the most frequent structures observed in non-pregnant organs of parous camels as well as in pregnant tracts, together with the CL of pregnancy: 17% of ovaries contained more than one luteal structure. Pregnancy was easily recognized as early as 40-45 days of gestation because of the marked swelling of the left uterine horn in which 99.52% of the pregnancies were located.
Subject(s)
Camelus/anatomy & histology , Ovary/anatomy & histology , Pregnancy, Animal , Animals , Corpus Luteum/anatomy & histology , Female , Ovarian Follicle/anatomy & histology , PregnancyABSTRACT
Growth and iodine content of the thyroid glands in relation to body weight, length [total (BCVRT), crown-rump (CR), and curved crown-rump (CVR)], chest circumference (CC), and age were investigated in 83 camel foetuses from 70 to 355 days of gestation (mean gestation length 390 days). Weight and iodine content of the dam's thyroid were also studied. Highly significant (P less than 0.01) correlations of 0.883, 0.797, 0.798, 0.792, and 0.813 were obtained between foetal thyroid weights on the one hand and body weight, BCVRT, CR, CVR, and CC on the other hand. A significant (P less than 0.05) correlation of 0.345 was obtained between weights of the foetal thyroid and dam's thyroid. The relative weight of the foetal thyroid to body weight was 0.045% at 70-99 days of gestation, but decreased to 0.028 (0.023 to 0.036%) in the subsequent stages. Iodine trapping by the foetal thyroid was first detected at 100-129 days of gestation. Total iodine then increased until 310 days, but decreased thereafter. The foetal thyroid has 4 to 25 times higher avidity to iodine accumulation than that of the dam.
