The Sructure of the Harderian, Extraorbital and Infraorbital Lacrimal Glands Ducts of the Laboratory Rats

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine and compare the structure of the excretory ducts of the Harderian gland, extraorbital and infraorbital lacrimal glands of laboratory rats. Object and methods. Five male laboratory rats were examined by dissecting the lacrimal glands, from which series of thin paraffin sections were obtained for histological examination. Micropreparations were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined under a light microscope.Results. It was found that the tubuloalveolar epithelial components of the extraorbital gland of rats in the middle of the lobe are even denser than in the infraorbital gland, as evidenced by very narrow interstitial fissures. The lacrimal glands of laboratory rats have an individual well-defined connective tissue capsule. Inside the capsule and between the lobes there are slitlike interepithelial interstitial spaces, in which we don`t detect clusters of lipocytes, as occurs in the lacrimal glands of human. In the volume of lobes, both extraorbital and infraorbital glands, the interepithelial interstitial spaces contain vessels of the hemomicrocirculatory tract, mainly capillaries, precapillary arterioles and postcapillary venules. Arterioles and venules are usually visualized outside the lobes in more pronounced interstitial spaces.