Morphometrical evaluations of the integumental layers at different ages and regions of Bakhtiari sheep

For this study, 24 Bakhtiari sheep were selected and divided into four age groups: 1-10 days, 5-8 months, 1-2 years and 3 years and more. In each age group, six animals (3 each sex) were used. The specimens of eight different skin regions were collected. They were fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution and processed through routine paraffin embedding, cut at 5-7 ? and stained with H&E, Masson trichrome, Ayoub-Shklar, Verhoeff and Foot’s method for reticulum. Morphometrical studies on these sections were carried out using light microscope and ocular micrometer respectively. Thickness of skin, epidermis and dermis, were measured in all the regions of skin in both sexes. The one-way ANOVA and Duncan's Multiple Range test were used to analyze the data and detect of significant differences. It was found that the thickness of total skin, epidermis, papillary layer and reticular layer of dermis varied among all the regions and was affected significantly by age and sex. The total skin thickness of different regions in neonate, young, young adult and old adult of Bakhtiari sheep ranged from 1197.81-1912.92, 1028.13-1861.90, 1712.08-2932.62, and 1585.24-2717.45 ? respectively.

Keywords:

Integument , Epidermis , Dermis , Morphometry , Bakhtiari , Sheep