Morphometry and Histology of the Gastrointestinal Organs of the African White Breasted Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)

Abstract

Morphometric studies were carried out on organs of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of African white breasted Hedgehog obtained from local markets in Ilorin metropolis (8.4882° N, 4.5341° E), Ilorin, Nigeria. Ten (10) hedgehogs were used. The animals were euthanized and GIT organs were exteriorized for gross morphometric studies’ Tissue samples were collected from the GIT segments, processed using the routine paraffin method and stained using the Hematoxylin & Eosin stain. This study observed a remarkable conformational difference between the male and female African white breasted Hedgehog, with the female having signifi- cantly larger body weight, tongue and gastrointestinal biometry as compared to the males. Its stomach was a C – shaped saccular sac. The intestines were straight and cylindrical, except the jejunum which was tortuous. The large intestine had a colon but lacked a caecum. Histologically, the esopha- gus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum and colon all had four layers: muco- sae, submucosae, muscularis and serosa. The esophageal mucosae had keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. The duodenal and jejunal mucosae had villi and crypts of Lieberkuhn, lined with simple colum- nar epithelium. Villi were absent in the colon. Mucosal glands were seen in the stomach but were absent in the other parts of the GIT. The tunica muscularis in all the segments of the GIT had inner circular, middle oblique and outer longitudinal smooth muscles, except the esophagus which had only inner circular and outer longitudi- nal layers. It was concluded that with the exception of the caecum, the GIT of the African white breasted Hedge- hog is grossly relatively similar to those of other monogastric mammals and shows Histomorphologic varia- tions across its component organs. Thus, further Histochemical and Immunohistochemical analyses of the organs are recommended