Morphometric parameters of the intestine and aggregated lymphatic nodules of meat rabbits

Abstract

Nowadays, new breeds of rabbits are appearing with high productivity and rapid growth rate. These breeds require fresh research to be conducted in different fields, which include morphology of the intestine and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). The morphology of the intestine and GALT of meat rabbits are the investigated objects of the current research. We conducted the investigation on rabbits of different ages (1, 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90 days old). Each age group consisted of five animals. All veterinary ethical requirements were complied with. The body lengths and body masses were measured. Using t-coefficients, we estimated the range of variation of these parameters in each age group. The conclusion about this variation was taken. The masses and lengths of the different intestine parts were investigated as well. Using the obtained values, we provided a continuous numerical model to compute the mass and length of any intestine part of a rabbit of any age in the range from one to 90 days. This allowed us to represent the obtained empirical model by a plot for subsequent detailed study. We found that the changes in masses and lengths do not follow the same pattern for all intestine parts. For some intestine parts, this pattern is approximately linear in the range from one to 90 days; meanwhile for others, the changes in masses and lengths are quite complicated. We observed two local maximas of the growth rate for some intestine parts. Apart from the masses and lengths of the intestine parts, we accomplished macro analysis of the aggregated lymphoid nodules of each age group of animals. We estimated the index of gross area and the law by which it changes in each group. The research results presented here may be used as a basis for composing food ration, assessment of immune status and development of effective prevention and treatment against some diseases.