Latvijā audzētu briežu (Cervus elaphus L.) gremošanas trakta morfofunkcionālā stāvokļa pētījumi

Abstract

Deer breeding in Latvia has been rapidly developing over the last years. In order to obtain qualitative meat from captive wild animals it is necessary to investigate the feeding of deer and the morphofunctional status of the animals’ digestive tract. Morphology and the diffuse neuroendocrine system of separate parts of the digestive tract were studied by histological and immunohistochemical methods. The results revealed keratinisation of the rumen mucosa of the fundus part in 4 animals out of 5, and in two cases it was very notable. Simultaneously, also patchy foci of parakeratotic basal cells of epithelium were observed in the rumen wall. Neutrophilic leukocytes, lymphocytes and rare macrophages had infiltrated mucosa and muscle layers of the ruminal wall. Vacuolization of gangliocytes was detected in the intermuscular nerve plexus. The abovementioned changes were similar in four animals, and only in one animal no changes were detected in the structure of tissue. Interestingly that presence of inflammatory cells was also found in the wall of the large intestine in two animals but atrophy of this region was detected in one case. A conclusion was made that in general red deer’s small and large intestines were more innerved than the rumen despite the variations in separate parts of the mucosal envelope of the intestinal walls. The small intestine was characterized by abundantly expressed serotonin. Focal appearance of neurofilament-containing nerve fibres characterized the tissue from the rumen towards the large intestines. Additionally, the prominent apoptosis detected in the rumen possibly could be attributed to the intensity of food cleavage and resorbtion processes and could be evaluated as a compensatory answer from the tissue side.