Morphological characteristics of preputial and clitoral glands in pet rats

The aim of the study is to investigate the structural features of the preputial glands of males and clitoral glands of females in clinically healthy adult sexually mature pet rats. The object of the study is pet rats kept by private owners in the city of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Region, which died from various diseases not associated with pathologies of the studied glands. The material of the study was the clitoral and preputial glands collected from the corpses of dead animals during pathological examination. The material from 13 females weighing from 248 to 567 g and 11 males weighing from 229 to 720 g was studied. The age of the animals ranged from 12 to 36 months. The preputial and clitoral glands are paired organs of external secretion, located in the thickness of the subcutaneous fat, and are well developed in animals of both sexes. Their absolute weight significantly differs between rats of different sexes and is (0.22 ± 0.02) g in males and (0.14 ± 0.01) g in females (P ≤ 0.01). The relative mass of the glands in animals of both sexes is (0.4 ± 0.01) % of the body mass. It has been established that the preputial glands in males and the clitoral glands in females of pet rats have a comparable histological structure. According to the type of secretion, they are holocrine, according to the characteristics of the excretory ducts, they are branched, and according to the shape of the terminal sections, they are alveolar. They produce a pasty secretion, which has a color from yellowish to light brown, contains a large amount of lipids and has a pungent odor.