Histological and morphometric evaluation of the urethra and penis in male New Zealand White rabbits

Abstract

This stereudy aimed at performing a histological and morphometric evaluation of the urethra and penis of male rabbits. Seven male New Zealand White rabbits weighing 2.1–3 kg were used in the study. The whole urethra, from the urinary bladder to the external urethral orifice, was dissected from the rabbits, and the tissue was sliced into sections at an interval of 2 mm. The sections were stained with haematoxylin–eosin, Masson–Goldner trichrome stain, Van Gieson's stain and Movat–Russell modified pentachrome stain. A detailed evaluation of the morphology and morphometry was performed. The parameters assessed were the type and height of epithelium, thickness and composition of connective tissue, and thickness and structure of muscularis. The histological structure of the rabbit urethra was found to be similar to humans. However, although the rabbits were found to have the same type of penis as the humans, the internal structure of the corpora cavernosa, the relative thickness of the tunica albuginea and the rudimentary glands of the penis were found to differ in these animals. The results of the present study may be useful in the designing of implants, drug testing or surgical procedures on the physiological and pathological urethra.

Utility of the Movat pentachrome stain technique in the microanatomical analysis of the human placenta

“…The reported data demonstrates the advantages of imaging the human placenta with Movat pentachrome staining techniques. Histochemical techniques (trichrome or pentachrome stain) are used relatively often for histochemical evaluation of tissues (Kara et al 2020;Klećkowska-Nawrot et al 2015;Skonieczna et al 2021;Zaki and Youssef 2013). Despite its complexity, the Movat technique allows for simultaneous visualisation of multiple tissue structures such as muscles, cell nuclei or tissues containing elastin fibres or glycosaminoglycans (Wilson et al 2021).…”

Visualisation of penile structures of laboratory rabbit: ultrasound, histology, and micro-CT

“…Moreover, murine, and other animal models in pre-clinical trials are not very appropriate to use micro-CT because of the presence of a baculum. Rabbits are known to not to have this bone as like as in human [16]. That is why we suggest that this animal model is more appropriate, because we should not additionally focus on possible penile bone morphological alterations while assessing complex pathological changes, which are studied to be applied in clinical humane medicine.…”

Development of a novel castration‐resistant orthotopic prostate cancer model in New Zealand White rabbit

“…Due to their short life spans, short gestation periods, high numbers of progeny, and low cost compared to other large animals, rabbits often serve to bridge the gap between smaller rodents (mice and rats) and larger animals, such as dogs, pigs, and monkeys 16 . Despite the absence of reported literature on a rabbit orthotopic prostate tumor model, in‐depth and extensive histological and morphological characterization of the rabbit reproductive/prostate anatomy has been published 17–23 . Here, we report, for the first time, on the development of a novel orthotopic PCa model in the New Zealand White rabbit.…”

“…16 Despite the absence of reported literature on a rabbit orthotopic prostate tumor model, in-depth and extensive histological and morphological characterization of the rabbit reproductive/prostate anatomy has been published. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Here, we report, for the first time, on the development of a novel orthotopic PCa model in the New Zealand White rabbit. Importantly, the rabbit prostate in older animals approaches a human size, with glands of ∼1-2 cm in diameter.…”