Palanisamy Dharani; S. Usha Kumary; Venkatesan Sundaram; Cecilia Joseph & Geetha Ramesh

The morphology of the interstitial tissue of sexually active and resting testis of the guinea fowl were studied. Six adult health birds of active and resting phases of reproductive cycle were used for this study. The interstitial tissue consisted of loose connective tissue, interstitial cells (Leydig cells), few connective cells, blood vessels and adrenergic nerve fibres in the present study in both active and resting testes. The interstitial tissue was compact in sexually active testis whereas, the volume of the tissue was found to be increased in resting testis. The loose connective tissue of the interstitial tissue composed of mainly of collagen fibres and few reticular fibres whereas elastic fibres were absent in both groups studied. The interstitial cells appeared in clusters of a few cells and were relatively less in the active testis than the resting testis. The interstitial cells were pale staining or polygonal cells with euchromatic nuclei with few large lipid droplets in the active testis whereas the cells were flat and highly heterochromatic with numerous small lipid droplets in resting testis. Few macrophages were found only in resting testis. Interstitial cells showed negative reaction to alkaline, acid phosphatases and PAS in both groups studied but positive for lipids. The interstitial tissue was well vascularised with centrally located blood vessels in the active testis whereas the blood vessels were small and inconspicuous in the resting testis. The lymphatic vessels were not identified in both groups studied.

KEY WORDS: Morphology; Interstitial tissue; Active; Resting; Testis; Guinea fowl.

DHARANI, P.; KUMARY, S. U.; SUNDARAM, V.; JOSEPH, C. & RAMESH, G. Morphology of the interstitial tissue of active and resting testis of the Guinea fowl. Int. J. Morphol., 35(4):1359-1362, 2017.