Developmental and Histological Studies of Fungiform Papillae in Fetal Human Tongue

This study was designed to evaluate the histological development of fungiform papillae of human tongue during the prenatal period.  Lateral Sagittal sections were taken at autopsy from the anterior two-third of 18 aborted fetuses of 8, 10, 12, and 20 weeks of gestations and 2 stillborn infants at 40 weeks of gestation. Twenty specimens were prepared in paraffin and stained for histological study. The gestational ages were calculated after measuring the Crown Rump Length [C.R.L.]. It was found that the first appearance of fungiform papillae was nearly about the 10th week of gestation, before the appearance of filiform papillae, most of the developed fungiform papillae were cylindrical in shaped with appearance of nerve plexus, at 12th week they reached mushroom shaped with narrow base and broad apex and became differentiated into primary and secondary papillae, also presumptive taste buds were noticed at this age in the form of multiple local thickening of papillary epithelium. At 20th week of gestation the taste buds became more developed, the papillae appeared more vascular. At full term (40th week) the fungi form papillae reached full maturity.  It is concluded that this study suggests that the development of fungi form papillae requires an epithelial and mesenchymal interaction during morphogenesis