Morphological and Histological Features of the Vomeronasal Organ in African Pygmy Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris)

Abstract

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) detects specific chemicals such as pheromones and kairomones. Hedgehogs (Eulipotyphla: Erinaceidae) have a well-developed accessory olfactory bulb that receives projections from the VNO, but little is known about the hedgehog VNO. Here, we studied the histological features of the VNO in five individual African pygmy hedgehogs by hematoxylin-eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, and Alcian blue stains. The hedgehog VNO comprises a hyaline cartilage capsule, soft tissue and epithelial lumen, and it branches from the site just before the incisive duct opening into the nasal cavity. The soft tissues contain several small mucous (or mucoserous) glands and a large serous gland, and many venous sinuses all around the lumen. The VNO lumen is round to oval throughout the hedgehog VNO, and the sensory epithelium lines almost the entire rostral part and medial wall of the middle part. These findings indicate that the VNO is functional and plays an important role in the hedgehog. Notably, the VNO apparently has a characteristic flushing mechanism with serous secretions like those of gustatory glands, which the hedgehog might frequently use to recognize the external environment.

Immunohistological study of the unexplored vomeronasal organ of an endangered mammal, the dama gazelle (Nanger dama)

“…Across all mammals, prior studies of the VNO have often been limited to the central part of the organ, ignoring changes along the rostrocaudal axis. However, numerous studies have evaluated spatial modifications in the VNO by performing serial macroscopic and histological sections, allowing for these anatomical and histological changes to be characterized (Bertmar, 1981; Kondoh et al, 2021; Ortiz‐Leal et al, 2020; Salazar et al, 1995; Salazar, Lombardero, Alemañ, & Sánchez Quinteiro, 2003; Tomiyasu et al, 2022; Torres et al, 2020; Vedin et al, 2010). In the current study of the dama gazelle VNO, we extended this approach to include a spatial study of the immunohistochemical and lectin‐histochemical features of the VD and NVN, allowing us to integrate morphological and functional observations along the entire length of the VNO.…”

Histological features and Gαolf expression patterns in the nasal cavity of sea turtles

“…The vomeronasal organs in mammals contain venous sinuses that function as vasomotor pumps to ventilate air in the lumen by swelling due to congestion (Meredith et al, 1980). Cartilage or bone comprise the outermost part, and a cylindrical lumen is surrounded by large veins in the vomeronasal organ (Kondoh, Tanaka, et al, 2021). These favorable ventilation features are similar to the structures in the spherical PdD herein.…”

The vomeronasal system in semiaquatic beavers

“…Soft tissue is surrounded only by cartilage in most of the mammals that have been investigated to date (minks [ Mustela lutreola ], cats, dogs, pigs [ Sus domesticus ], cows, horses [ Equus ferus caballus ] (Salazar et al, 1995), bears (Tomiyasu et al, 2017), giraffes ( Giraffa camelopardalis ) (Kondoh, Nakamura, et al, 2017), and hedgehogs ( Atelerix albiventris ) (Kondoh et al, 2021)), or only by bone in rodents like mice and hamsters (Mendoza, 1993). The vomeronasal envelope developmentally changes during the early growing stage in rats (Salazar & Sánchez‐Quinteiro, 2011); the soft tissue is enclosed by cartilage in very young individuals (aged 3 days), by bones and cartilage in young adults (aged 12–18 days), and only by bone in adults.…”