关键词: 树鼩, 驯养繁殖, 腮腺, 颌下腺, 舌下腺, 肝脏, 胰腺, 组织学

Abstract: Objective To understand the histological characteristics of the major digestive glands in captive breeding tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri), and to establish the normal histological atlas. Methods Histology observation on parotid, submandibular gland, sublingual gland, pancreas and liver of captive breeding tree shrews were conducted by conventional tissue processing, HE staining and microscopy. Results (1) The parotid gland was pure serous acini, with obvious intercalated ducts, the wall was composed of a single layer of low cuboidal epithelial cells, the lunmen was filled with secretions. (2) The submandibular gland was mixed gland, mainly consisting of serous acinai with longer secretory tube. (3) The sublingual gland was mixed gland, mainly consisting of mucinous acini, and a small amount of intercalated duct. (4) The surface of the liver was a thin layer capsule of dense connective tissue envelop. The liver parenchyma was several hepatic lobule with unconspicuous boundary. The central vein was located in the center of hepatic lobule. Liver cells were polygonal, and the large and round nucleus was located in the center of the cell, the majority was mononuclear, the minority was binuclear. The cytoplasm was red, containing vacuoles and small lacuna. The interlobular artery, vein and bile duct were clearly visible in the portal area. (5) The surface of pancreas was a layer of loose connective tissue envelope. The pancreatic parenchyma consisted of exocrine portion and endocrine portion. The exocrine portion contained acini and ducts. The acini was composed of serous cells, and the ducts consisted of intercalated, intralobular, interlobular and pancreatic ducts, which was some cell clusters and cell cords irregularly scattered among exocrine acini with variable size. The cytoplasm of the endocrine cells was stained lighter than that of the exocrine cells. Conclusion Digestive gland of captive breeding is similar to that of the primate animal in the morphology. Current research would provide histological evidence for the functional study of digestive gland and pathological changes in tupaia ,as well as setting up the animal model of human diseases.

Key words: Tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri), Captive breeding, Parotid gland, Submandibular gland, Sublingual gland, Liver, Pancreas, Histology