Histologic description of calve’s abomasum

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at Federal University of Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using forty crossbred calves from Milk Cattle Research National Centre - Embrapa, Coronel Pacheco, Minas Gerais (MG). Its objective is to study the performance of animals on different liquid diets: milk and fermented colostrum, with or without soybean oil, and with or without growth promoter (Zenarol). The animals were slaughtered in sixty days and had all digesting system organs weighted. The abomasum histology was described and quantified in cardiac, pyloric and fund regions, where thickness of the mucous, gland area and thickness of the epithelium were measured. Argirofilis, oxintic and zimogenic cells were also quantified. The fermented colostrum provided similar performance to milk. In histology measurements some treatment alteration was not observed. However, when the fermented colostrum was compared with several treatments, it provided similar relationship as to the abomasum functionality.