Histological and histochemical study of kidney in Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris)

The kidneys are important organs that regulate blood pressure and the volume and composition of body fluids. The most important part of the kidney is nephron that removes waste materials from the body. Because, there was little information on histology and histochemistry of kidney in Guinea fowl, this study was performed on five specimens. After preparation of the specimens were anesthetized and their kidneys were removed along with their synsacrum bone and were placed in 10% buffered formalin solution for 24 hours. Then, the kidneys were separated from the bone and tissue sections were prepared and stained with Hematoxylin – eosin and PAS-Alcian Blue stains. The results showed that epithelium of proximal, distal and cortical collecting tubules was simple cuboidal. The most part of kidney cortex was surrounded with proximal tubules. The epithelium of thick and thin limbs of Henle’s loop was composed of cuboidal so that it was short cuboidal in thin limb and high cuboidal in thick limb. The epithelium of medullary collecting tubules was high simple cuboidal to columnar. In histochemistry results, the apical border of distal and collecting tubules cells was stained with Alcian Blue, and the apical border of proximal tubule cells was stained with PAS and they were differentiated from each other.