5 years) age groups. In new born kid the glands were small, white cord like. It became "?" shaped at 6 months and "S" shaped at 12 months of age. A significant growth in size and weight of gland occurred at 6 month, then up to 12 month and beyond it grew slowly. The secretory acini of the lobules were lined by pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium which contained A-tall columnar, B-basal and C-narrow columnar type of cells. The number per unit area and size of the gland increased with age significantly from birth in the prepubertal animals and up to puberty. In post-pubertal animals it did not grow significantly, rather the connective tissue elements were increased in the capsule (adventitia). The intralobular connective tissue however, decreased at the expense of growth of acini at all ages.]]>

SUMMARY:The study was conducted on the prostate gland of Gaddi goat from one day old to more than five years of age divided into three groups viz; Prepubertal (1 day old to < 18 months of age), Pubertal (18 months to < 5 yrs of age) and Postpubertal (> 5 yrs of age). The prostate comprised of corpus prostatae, a band like structure close to the junction of vesicular gland with the urethra, and the pars disseminate which extended in urethra well from its origin to the point of duct of bulbourethral gland. Microscopically, the corpus prostatae comprised of two compact glandular masses lying one over the other, dorsally over the origin of pelvic urethra covered by a thick fibro-reticular capsule. The gland composed of end pieces (luminated and non-luminated acini) and ducts arranged in lobulated fashion. The thickness of inter and intralobular connective tissue decreased with increased age at the expense of the growth of paraenchyma. With age the luminated secretory end pieces increased, while the non-luminatedend pieces decreased in the lobules of the gland. Glandular parenchyma were rich in mucous components by 6 month age serous and mucous components became almost equal and at 12 month age majority of the secretory end pieces turned in to serous type. The excretory ducts which were lined by stratified cuboidal epithelium in one day old kids changed to transitional epithelium in late prepubertal and pubertal animals. The glandular elements were PAS and Best's carmine reactive while interstitial connective tissue was non reactive. Mild alkaline phosphatase reaction was evident in the interstitial connective tissue cells. A strong acid phosphatase reaction was evident in the endothelium. BPB reaction for protein was moderate to intense. Ducts and acini were PAS and Alcian Blue reactive. The reaction for glycogen and AMPS contents in the gland increased with age. It was very intense in the pubertal animals. Moderate DNA activity, mild to moderate alkaline and acid phosphatases in the glandular acini and ductal epithelium revealed functionally active secretory glands particularly in the pubertal animals.

No abstract

Development of goat spleen at various stages of gestation was studied. Primordium of spleen was observed on 46th day of gestation in close proximity to the developing rumen. All the parameters viz. length, width, thickness and weight were increased with advancement of age. Differentiating capsule and trabeculae were noticed on 69th day and 102th days of gestation, respectively. Reticular, collagen and elastic fibers were noticed at 60, 55 and 124 days of gestation, respectively. Red and white pulp was not fully differentiated till term.

studies on the prenatal development of testis in goat (Capra hircus). Int. J. Morphol., 30(4):1408-1421, 2012. SUMMARY:The study has been conducted on the prenatal development of testis on 70 goat embryo/foeti, categorized into group-I (0-30 days), Group-II (31-60 days), Group-III (61-90 days), Group-IV (91-120 days) and group V (121days-till birth), having 14 embryos/ foeti in each group. The genital ridge was observed at 23 days of gestation. It contained an accumulation of mesenchymal cells, immature RBC's, differentiating fibroblasts and primordial germ cells. The formation of sex cords was evidenced on 44 th day of gestation. It contained small mesenchymal cells and large cells arranged in a chain like manner. The convolution of the sex cords started between 61-90 days of gestation, which increased with the increase in the gestation period and at 125 day of gestation few sex cords attained the form of reverse question mark. The sustentocytes (Sertoli cells) were observed among the small cells of sex cords at 56 th day of gestation. The tunica albuginia appeared just beneath the germinal epithelium at 44 th day of gestation. It consisted of 2-4 layers of mesenchymal cells, fibroblasts and small capillaries. The thickness of tunica albuginia increased with the increase in the age of foetus and between 61-90 days of gestation, the outer thick fibrous and inner thin vascular layer could be demarcated separately. Few mesenchymal cells start differentiating into interstititial endocrine cells (Leydig cells) located in the interstitial spaces at 44 th day of gestation.