The Development of Rabbit's Urinary System Serial Sections Study of 12-14 mm Rabbit Embryos and a 10 mm Pig Embryo

Abstract

The urogenital system develops from the intermediate mesoderm, the coelomic epithelium and the endoderm of the urogenital sinus. The urinary system of mammal is characterized by three sets of kindneys, i.e. the nonfunctional pronephros, the mesonephros and the functional metanephros. The metanephros or the permanent kidney develops from the ureteric bud and metanephrogenic tissue. At the beginning the kidney is located in the pelvic region but later gradually ascends to the abdomen. The urinary bladder development of human urinary system in the Department of Anatomy, Siriraj Hospital, we have employed serial sections of 10-15 mm pig embryos as laboratory models. This method of laboratory study is helpful in understanding and recognizing how the kidney forms. It is quite regrettable that nowadays the pig embryos are no longer available. Thus, it is necessary to find another suitable laboratory model and study the details of its normal kidney development. In this study, we demonstrated that 12-14 mm rabbit embryos can be used instead of pig embryos as the development of the metanephros is very similar. Although the rabbit’s mesonephros is smaller than that of the pig, it resembles the human mesonephros more closely. For this reason, the rabbit embryo is suitable for use as a laboratory model for embryology education of urinary system.