Surface morphology of oviductal epithelial cells in stages of follicular and luteal phases of buffalo

In this study, we examined the luminal surfaces of epithelial cells that lined on the ampullaisthmus of the buffalo oviduct during the follicular and luteal phases of the estrous cycle by using scanning electron microscopy. The luminal epithelium of ampulla-isthmus from the oviduct during the follicular phase showed dense population of ciliated cells. The cilia of ciliated cells partially covered the apical surface of nonciliated cells. However, only one-third of epithelial cells lining the ampulla during luteal phase were ciliated cells. The apical surfaces of the nonciliated cells were round shape. It is obvious that, during the estrous cycle, the buffalo oviductal epithelium changes its structural features. It is known that the buffalo is commercial livestock in Thailand. We believed that examination of the epithelial cell of buffalo oviduct might contribute to increasing our knowledge