ADAPTIVE TRANSFORMATIONS OF A FOX’S KNEE JOINT LIGAMENTS UNDER CHANGED FUNCTIONAL CONDITIONS

Abstract

The aim of the research is identification of complex structural changes of the fox’s knee joint ligaments to ensure its high biomechanical potencies. A promising approach for the study of adaptive and compensatory changes of the joint as a multicomponent biomechanical system is to evaluate the structural transformations of its ligaments under conditions of a new functional load. The research was carried out on the basis of the Department of Animal Anato-my and Histology named after Professor A. F. Klimov «Moscow state Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotech-nology – MBA named after K. I. Scryabin» and on the basis of JSC «Breeding animal farm «Saltykovsky». The arti-cle presents information about morphological transformations of the lateral and median ligaments of the knee joint that determine its reliable stability. Numerous structural changes of the fox ligaments during cage housing is re-flected, which decrease in the thickness of bundles of collagen fibers and their compositional density compared to the standard structure (in wild individuals). Morphological transformations that can significantly reduce the strength and elasticity resistance of the ligaments and the biomechanical potential of the joint are shown. 23 fox individuals, including 15 individuals of the cage housing and 8 representatives of the natural habitat were studied. The re-search used a comprehensive methodological approach, including anatomical preparation, light microscopy of histological sections, scanning electron microscopy, micromorphometry and statistical analysis of the obtained digi-tal data. According to the results of the study, it was found that fox individuals from natural biocenosis, have colla-gen structures of the lateral ligaments different in waving and packing density from ones of cage housing, which can contribute to ensuring their biomechanical domination.