Anatomical, Histological and Histochemical Features of the Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus) Caecum

Abstract

In this study, the caecum of five guinea pigs was anatomically, histologically, and histochemically analyzed. From an anatomical point of view, it has been proved that the caecum in guinea pigs occupies the caudal segment of the abdominal cavity and consists of three parts: the ampullary portion, the body of the caecum, and the apex of the caecum, without a caecal appendix. In our histological analysis, we observed that the caecum has a simple structure, and the cecal mucosal glands are rare and contain, in addition to enterocytes, a small number of goblet cells, which are better represented in the deep part of the glands. Histochemically it has been observed that goblet cells are PAS and Alcian blue positive, which shows that they secrete both neutral and acidic mucins. The intensity of these two histochemical reactions is similar to that of goblet cells from other intestinal segments, proving that they are typical goblet cells. The large volume of the caecum suggests that this is an important section for the digestion process, although the relatively simple structure of the caecal mucosa suggests that the digestion here is not preponderant, but only complements the intestinal one.