Features of the thyroid gland morphology of some representatives of the Cervidae family, living in the Altai

Abstract

The authors studied the morphofunctional (anatomical and histological) features of the thyroid gland of dapple deer, maral, moose and roe deer. During the macroscopic examination of the organ, the number of lobes, the presence of an isthmus, the length, width and thickness of the lobes, and the weight of the gland were determined. During histological examination, morphometric parameters were evaluated, such as: diameter of the follicles, height of the thyrocytes, volume of the thyrocyte nuclei, and the Brown index was calculated. In all animals, the thyroid gland consisted of two lobes without an isthmus. It differs between species in the shape, size, and thickness of the lobes. The gland weight correlates with the size of the animals. Morphological differences between species consist in the heterogeneity of the location of follicles of different diameters in relation to each other. In the dapple deer, large-diameter follicles are located in the center of the organ, and smaller-diameter follicles are located both in the center and on the periphery. In roe deer, the gland follicles are almost identical in shape and size, that is, they are of the same type. The gland has a similar morphological structure in maral and moose. The colloid of the follicles has a homogeneous consistency, it is compacted and intensively stained with hematoxyl-eosin, resorption vesicles are in small quantities.