Functional angioarchitectural comparison of the fungiform papillae of rat, rabbit, cat in scanning electron...

The aim of this study was to compare the functional angioarchitectural fungiform papillae (FuP) of three kinds of mammalia, rat, rabbit and cat, with microvascular cast specimens (MVCS) utilizing the corrosive resin cast method in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FuP distributed geometrically on the dorsal surface of the tongues of the three mammals with different eating habits were of various kinds of form based on their functional and microvascular structure. The basic form of the capillary loop of FuP in the three mammals consisted of the ascending and descending branches of the capillary bed. The basic form of the loop microstructure in rat FuP was a cylindrical or bamboo-basket-like loop structure. In the rabbit, FuPs consisted of a carnation-like structure and in the cat FuP consisted of a half oval fishnet ball-like structure. It can be said conclusively that from this detailed investigation of the intracapillary microvascular architecture of the three mammals, FuP are effective as a sensory organ receiving the taste of foods and liquids by the expansion of the surface area in various functional and microvascular formations in the rat (cylindrical or bamboo-basket-like loop structure), rabbit (carnation-like) and cat (half oval fishnet-ball-like) respectively.