Arterial supply to the rabbit adrenal gland

Abstract

The adrenal gland regulates stress responses by releasing steroid hormones, whose synthesis and secretion are influenced by adrenal blood flow. Adrenalectomy is commonly performed in rabbits to study the function of the adrenal gland. Although knowledge of the arterial supply to the adrenal gland forms the anatomical basis of the surgery, its description in prior studies is incomplete for the rabbit. Therefore, we observed the adrenal arteries in 27 male and 11 female New Zealand White rabbits using the colored latex injection method. The branching pattern of the adrenal arteries was divided into three major types based on the number of parent arteries that gave rise to the adrenal arteries. Thirty-four percent of right halves exhibited one parent artery and were categorized as type 1. Fifty-five percent of right halves and 76% of left halves had two parent arteries and were categorized as type 2. Eleven percent of right halves and 24% of left halves had three parent arteries and were categorized as type 3. The number of adrenal arteries varied from 3 to 16 on the right, 3 to 18 on the left, and 9 to 30 in total in each individual. These findings demonstrate the remarkable individual variation in arterial supply to the rabbit adrenal gland, suggesting that such variations should always be considered during experimental treatments in the rabbit.

Ramification Pattern of the Arteries Supplying the Rabbit Female Genital Organs

“…To reduce the number of experimental animals, we dissected 15 New Zealand White rabbits (aged 12–14 weeks, weighing 1.7–2.3 kg), which had been purchased from Tokyo Laboratory Animals Science (Tokyo, Japan) and had been used in our previous studies (Honda and Shibata, ; Kigata et al, ; Kigata and Shibata, ), and 15 Japanese White rabbits (aged 1.5 years, weighing 3.0–3.5 kg), which were obtained from the TUAT Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmacology at the end of a veterinary pharmacology practice class. The experimental procedure was similar to that used in our previous studies (Kigata et al, ; Kigata and Shibata, ). Briefly, all New Zealand White and Japanese White rabbits were deeply anesthetized with an intramuscular injection of xylazine (10 mg/kg) and ketamine (50 mg/kg) and an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital (60 mg/kg body weight), and then perfused transcardially with 0.9% saline followed by 10% phosphate‐buffered formalin or 4% paraformaldehyde, or 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.05% glutaraldehyde.…”

Some macrometric anatomical parameters of the adrenal glands in the New Zealand white rabbit

“…Many researchers conduct adrenalectomy in rabbits to investigate the function of the adrenal gland as a model in humans. It is known that there are variations, regarding the arterial blood supply of the rabbit glands (2).…”

Arterial supply to the rabbit male genital organs

“…In this study, 20 male New Zealand White rabbits (13-14 weeks old, weighing 2.5-3.0 kg), purchased from Tokyo Laboratory Animal Science Co. (Tokyo, Japan), were dissected. Sixteen male rabbits were newly used for the present study, and the remaining 4 rabbits were used in our previous studies [8,9]. The experimental procedures were similar to those used in our previous studies [8,9].…”

“…Sixteen male rabbits were newly used for the present study, and the remaining 4 rabbits were used in our previous studies [8,9]. The experimental procedures were similar to those used in our previous studies [8,9]. In brief, all rabbits were euthanized with intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital (60 mg/kg) and perfused transcardially with saline followed by 10% formalin or 4% paraformaldehyde.…”