Luis Abarza-Morales; Franco Opazo; Paola Gajardo-Martínez & Ignacio Roa

The guinea pig is an animal model widely used in biomedical research due to its biological similarities with humans. The objective of our study is to provide morphological support to use histological preparations of guinea pig embryos as a study model to understand the processes of human embryonic development. Our results show that guinea pig embryos present morphological characteristics similar to those observed in human embryos, suggesting that they can be used as an effective model to study human embryonic development. This finding has important implications for research and teaching using this animal model. Histological preparations of guinea pig embryos stained with hematoxylin eosin, acquired by the Autonomous University of Chile, were analyzed. Photomicrographs of histological preparations of guinea pigs at different stages of development were taken and the best images were selected to describe structures and establish estimates of embryogenesis. From the analysis of the preparations it is clear that organs such as the esophagus, spinal cord and heart present anatomical and histological similarities that make it possible to compare them with human embryonic development and gestation age in early stages. The use of guinea pig embryo preparations and their analysis from a histological aspect turns out to be a feasible methodological strategy due to the similarities in mammalian embryogenesis and the morphological concordances with the development of organs between humans and rodents. This allows this animal model to be implemented as a tool to understand human embryonic development.

KEY WORDS: Embryonic development; Histology; Cavia porcellus.

ABARZA-MORALES, L.; OPAZO, F.; GAJARDO- MARTÍNEZ, P. & ROA, I. Histological study in guinea pig embryos (Cavia porcellus) and its usefulness as a model for understanding human embryonic development. Int. J. Morphol., 42(1):21-27, 2024.