Histomorfometria da mucosa ruminal de ovinos alimentados com pastagem nativa do Semiárido Nordestino

Abstract

Ruminants are animals that have functional structures in their digestive tract that promote better digestibility of ingestion, one of these components consists of the ruminal papillae, which are directly influenced by the presence of volatile fatty acids in the fermentation of carbohydrates, it is noteworthy that the ingestion of concentrates and forages contribute to very important anatomical, metabolic and physiological changes. The objective of this work was to describe the morphology and morphometry of the rumen papillae of sheep fed on native Caatinga pasture. The laboratory analyzes were carried out in the Agricultural Sciences Laboratory of the Federal Institute of Piauí, Paulistana campus, and in the LABMORF of NUPCEL/UFPI. Six animals, males, castrated of the Santa Inês breed with approximately 12 months of age were used. The morphometric assay was carried out in a completely randomized design (DIC), with 4 treatments and 6 replications, totaling 24 plots. The treatments consisted of the portions of the rumen: dorsal sac, ventral sac, caudal-dorsal blind sac, and caudal-ventral blind sac. The variables measured in the rumen mucosa were: height (μm), width (μm), area (μm²) and perimeter (μm). The processed material was embedded in paraffin, then the blocks were cut into sections with a thickness of 5 micrometers (μm). Subsequently, the sections were stained using the Hematoxylin-Eosin (H.E) method. Subsequently, the histological slides were photomicrographed and analyzed histomorphometrically using the Leica Application Suite (LAS) computer program. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and means compared by Tukey test at 5% significance level. Mean values and standard deviation 1867.90±140.33; 606.09±58.96; 251.57±24.00; 129325.61±17408.03, are perimeter, height, width and area respectively. In the present study, the variables in the different portions of the rumen were not significantly different. The intercropping of native pasture with an adjusted supplementation becomes an alternative to achieve better rumen