¹Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Afyon Kocatepe, ANS Kampüsü, TR-03200 Afyonkarahisar - TURKEY
²Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Afyon Kocatepe, ANS Kampüsü, TR-03200 Afyonkarahisar - TURKEY
³Stereology and Electron Microscopy Laboratory and Centre for Stochastic Geometry and Advance Bioimaging, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus - DENMARK DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2012.7031 The bulbourethral gland (or Cowper"s gland) plays an important role for fertility. It is, therefore, essential to have quantitative data about the morphological and histomorphological structure of this gland in nonpathological conditions. In the present study, Holstein bull"s bulbourethral glands were collected, and the volume of the glands, total epithelial cell number and epithelial cell"s nuclear volume was estimated for the first time by stereological methods. The smooth fractionator technique for epithelial cell counting was used. Epithelial cell"s nuclear volume was estimated on vertical sections. The mean number of the epithelial cells (coefficient of error; CE) and the mean epithelial cell"s nuclear volume were found 322x107 (0.1) and 59.1 µm3 (SD=3.7) respectively. Finally, the present studies stereological findings are in the acceptable range. Keywords : Bulbourethral gland, Cell number, Nuclear volume, Smooth fractionator, Stereology