A Histochemical Approach to Cardiac Ventricles and Purkinje Cells of Chicks in Pre and Post Embryonic Periods

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of egg weight and growth rate of breeders on heart ventricle wall, conduction system and Purkinje cells in embryos and chicks. For this purpose, chicken eggs obtained from fast-growing Ross 308 and slow-growing Hubbard JA broiler breeders were divided into two groups as light (64 +/- 1g) and heavy (72 +/- 1g) eggs. The ventricle wall, conduction system and Purkinje cells were examined by applying different histochemical dyes to the longitudinal sections of the heart ventricles taken on the 18th and 21st days of the incubation. Genotype growth rate and egg weight did not cause any difference in the histology of the heart ventricles. The formation of inter-myofibrillar space and collagen-myofibril density difference were observed in the ventricular walls, which was thought to be due to the embryonic development. The use of different histochemical dyes in a histological study allows the examination of different structures following the embryonic development of organisms.