Anatomy and histology of the female reproductive tract of the Arabian camel

One hundred and twenty normal non-pregnant and eight pregnant female camel reproductive tracts from the abattoir were examined during the months of November and December 2000. All the histological slides were stained with H and E. The camel has a bipartite uterus, which is shaped more like the letter T than the classical Y shaped bipartite uterus seen in other ruminants. The left horn was significantly (p < 0.05) longer (77.75 mm ± 5.58: mean ± sem) than the right horn (59.37 mm ± 2.95). The length of the uterine body was 67.56 mm ± 5.68.In all eight early pregnant tracts, the fetus were exclusively implanted in the left uterine hom. The cervix was very short (3.62 mm ± 1.32) with 4 to 5 rows of outgrowth ridges and the vagina was relatively very long (322.6 mm ± 4.21). The endometrial lining consists of a single layer of columnar epithelium supported by a broad, highly cellular connective tissue stroma with simple tubular glands. A thick layer of myometrium surrounds this endometrial tissue. The oviducts were 140-300 mm long, larger at the uterine end and opens up into the uterine hom with a distinct circular papillae like projection. The oviductal epithelium consists of a single layer of ciliated and non-ciliated columnar cells. The camel is a seasonally polyestrus induced type of ovulating animal. Decreasing length of daylight appears to be the stimulus to seasonality in camels. This can account for various ovarian structures that were seen in the ovaries that were collected during the shorter day length months of November and December. The ovaries are flattened, lobulated and each ovary is enclosed in an ovarian bursa In the mature follicles, the zona granulosa layer is made up of several layers of cells of different sizes followed by a vascular theca interna and externa layer of cells. The histological appearances of atretic follicles vary enormously, depending on the stage of development and the progress of atresia Large follicles (> 10mm) and small follicles (5-10 mm) were seen on 96% of the ovaries examined. The Graafian follicles were 13.55 mm ± 2.74 and the corpora lutea were 8.92 mm ± 0.54 in diameter.