Neurochemical characterization of the hypothalamus of the early fetal and newborn alpaca Vicugna pacos.

In this study we performed a neurochemical characterization of the hypothalamus in the developing alpaca (Vicugna pacos) with the aim of revealing the distributions of immunoreactive (-ir) cells containing parvalbumin (PV), calbindin (CB), calretinin (CR), the somatostatin (SOM), the enzyme aromatase P450 (P450Arom), the estrogen receptor α (ER-α), and estrogen receptor β (ER-β) in embryonal stages, early fetal age, and in the newborn. This analysis has been carried out on embryos at 20, 30, 45 days, fetuses at 90 days, and newborn alpaca. Our immunohistochemical results revealed no cells-ir throughout the embryonic hypothalami of 20, 30, and 45 days.

Mapping of the Early Intrauterine Morphogenesis in the Alpaca (Vicugna pacos): External Features and Development of the Cephalic Vesicle in Comparison with the Progressive Carnegie Scale.

In this study, we characterized the morphological aspects of the early development of the head of the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and identified the main structures of the central nervous system during the first trimester of pregnancy. The topography and the cytoarchitecture of the fetal brain regions were described by histological analysis of the brain sections. We performed this analysis on alpaca embryos and fetuses presumably aged 20, 30, 45, and 90 days.