Gross Anatomical, Histomorphological and Biometrical Study of the Cornea in Adult Marwari Goat (Capra hircus)

Abstract

The present study was carried out on cornea of the adult Marwari goat (Capra hircus), irrespective of sex. The cornea was elliptical in shape with horizontal diameter greater than the vertical diameter. The mean value of the thickness of the cornea was 0.852±0.03 mm. The cornea was composed of anterior epithelium, subepithelial basement membrane, corneal stroma/substantia propria, Descemet’s membrane and endothelium. Anterior epithelium (stratified squamous non-keratinized) was the outermost layer of the cornea and was composed of 5 to 9 rows of epithelial cells. The mean value of the total thickness of the corneal section was 716.39±13.84 μ. The mean values of the thickness of the epithelial layers, thickness of stroma, thickness of the Descemet’s membrane and thickness of endothelium of the cornea were 77.20±1.45 μ, 626.74±12.02 μ, 10.70±0.33 μ and 2.08±0.10 μ, respectively.