Abstract

King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), the world’s longest venomous snake, belonging to the family Elapidae, is endemic to forests from India through Southeast Asia. Gross and histological structure of liver in King cobra were studied using a specimen brought for post-mortem at Veterinary Hospital, Kannur. Specimens for histological study were fixed in 10 per cent neutral buffered formalin (NBF) for 48 hours, after recording the gross features.The fixed specimens were processed using routine procedure. Sections of 5 μm were stained using Haematoxylin and Eosin, and Masson’s trichrome. Grossly, liver was elongated with narrower ends and dark brown in colour. The gland was encapsulated in a glistening connective tissue capsule. The liver weighed 400 g and the measured values of length, width and thickness were 61.0 cm, 5.5 cm and 1.5 cm respectively. Microscopic examination did not reveal the typical hexagonal hepatic lobules. The connective tissue in the hepatic parenchyma supported branches of portal vein, hepatic artery and bile duct. Vessels and ducts representing central vein and portal triad were arranged randomly. Arrangement of hepatocytes varied between that of glandular alveoli and tubules. Further, hepatocytes were separated by capillary sinusoids. Each alveolus presented three to eight hepatocytes. The sinusoidal wall presented endothelial cells with flattened nucleus and occasional Kupffer cells. Sinusoids contained oval and nucleated red blood corpuscles. The hepatocytes were polyhedral with vacuolated cytoplasm and presented round nucleus with distinct nucleolus. Parenchyma also presented melanomacrophages and heterophils.

Keywords : Liver, Hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, Melanomacrophages