Histological and histochemical structure of the scrotal skin of adult brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos)

Abstract

The study carried out on the scrotal skin of Brown bears brought to the Wild life Research Center of Uludag University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Macroscopically, scrotal skin was considerably thick and its surface was wrinkled, dark coloured and sparsely haired. On the light microscope, it was observed that the scrotal skin was composed of two main layers, epidermis and dermis. On the epidermal-dermal junction, a basement membrane rich in reticular fibers was seen. The smooth muscle bundles in stratum papillare were smaller than of stratum reticulare. The hair follicles sparsely noticed in stratum reticulare didn't have any arrectores muscles. The primary and secondary follicles couldn't be distinguished. Sebaceous glands were noticed near the hair follides in stratunt reticulare and the deeper parts of stratum papillare. Generally, scrotal skin was rich in sweat glands located in the same level with sebaceous glands or under the hair follicle bulbs. Sweat glands were lined by simple squamous or cuboidal epithelial cells depending on the stage of secrotoric activity.