Vascularization of chickens adrenal glands in NPK lineage (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Abstract

Aiming at knowing the visceral vascular arrangements which frequently show huge variation to be differentiated in families and orders, we used 34 NPK chickens, aged at approximately 10 weeks, euthanized with a dose of anaesthetic gas, with arterial contingents marked with an aqueous 50 % Neoprene Latex ¨450¨ solution, colored with a specific coloring agent and fixed in an aqueous 10% formaldehyde solution, to study adrenal gland vascularization. The results indicated that the adrenal glands are paired organs, positioned in each antimer, laterally to the descending aorta, caudally to the lungs and medio-cranially to the kidneys. In the two antimers, the adrenal glands receive vessels originating from the homologous adrenal arteries that come from the cranial renal artery and from the descending aorta (right branches). Regardless of their origin, the number of branches destined to the adrenal glands varied according to the antimer, totaling 1 to 4 for the left antimer, and 1 to 3 for the right one. The higher the number of total arteries and branches emitted by the contralateral adrenal arteries destined to an antimer, the higher the number of branches they destine to the opposite antimer.