Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part Q (2024)

Author(s): Raghu Naik K, Indu VR, Maya S, Rajani CV, Patki HS and Surjith KP

Abstract: Histomorphological studies were conducted on the skin of crossbred and Vechur cattle and the sebaceous glands were compared. Skin samples of 1 cm² size were collected from 15 different regions viz., dorsal, ventral and lateral regions of head, neck, abdomen and tail respectively and muzzle, interdigital region of fore and hind limbs. Standard procedures were adopted for histoarchitectural and histochemical studies. The sebaceous glands appeared as simple, branched, or compound alveolar glands dispersed within the dermis. In certain regions, a single gland was associated with a single hair follicle, whereas in others, two glands were linked to a follicle of hair. In both cattle breeds, the muzzle lacked sebaceous glands. In the head and neck regions, the number of sebaceous glands was greater on the dorsal side, and this varied significantly from the lateral and ventral regions (p≤0.05). In the abdomen region, the number of sebaceous glands was higher on the lateral side, and this varied significantly from the dorsal and ventral regions. In the tail region, the number of glands was higher on the lateral side, but there was no significant variation compared to other regions in both groups of animals. When the sebaceous glands were compared between both the groups of animals, in the head, neck, abdomen, interdigital forelimb and hindlimb, the number of sebaceous glands showed significant variation and was more abundant in Vechur cattle than in crossbred cattle (p≤0.01). Sebaceous glands were more abundant in the interdigital forelimb compared to the hindlimb and exhibited significant variation (p≤0.01) between the limbs. When comparing the number of sebaceous glands per field under low-power magnification of the microscope across different body areas, they were most abundant in the lateral abdomen compared to other regions in both groups of animals.