Histochemistry of dorsal lacrimal gland in camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Lacrimal glands of mammals synthesise and secrete an aqueous solution in which different chemical substances are present i.e. protein and mucosubstances. The objective of current study was to determine of mucopolysachharides of camel lacrimal glands. Ten pairs of dorsal lacrimal glands, from ten adult camels were examined for normal histological and histochemical findings at the Mashhad abattoir, northeast of Iran. In camel, dorsal lacrimal gland was elongated with irregular outline and located in dorsolateral part of the eyeball. Histological studies showed that, dorsal lacrimal gland consisted of tubuloalveolar serous units separated by dense sheets of connective tissue into numerous small and large lobules. Alcian blue and Periodic acid shiff staining were used for histochemical studies. Mucosubstance histochemistry revealed secretory units contain acidic and neutral glycoproteins with different staining pattern.