Renal histology of Spermophilus xanthoprymnus, Spermophilus taurensis and Spermophilus citellus (Mammalia: Rodentia) species in hibernation

Hibernation is a type of adaptation that heterothermic mammals develop against nutrient deficiency and adverse weather conditions in winter. Hibernators survive against these adverse conditions by lowering their body temperature, energy metabolism. In this study, it belongs to 3 different species of Spermophilus (Spermophilus citellus, Spermophilus xanthoprymnus ve Spermophilus taurensis) collected in 2019 from Turkey (Buyukyayla of Karaman province, Meydan plateau of Niğde province and Enez District of Edirne province). In 2019-2020, kidney tissues of ground squirrels were taken before, during and after hibernation in uncontrolled laboratory conditions in Corum province and these tissues were stained with hemotoxilen-eosin, PAS procedure and they were digitized. Later, the circumference, diameter and area of the proximal tubule, Bowman capsule, glomerule, renal corpuscle were measured by Image J (Rasband, W.S., US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD) software. The results were compared statistically with each other. As a result of the studies, it was observed that the Spermophilus citellus species did not adapt to the laboratory environment, and most deaths were in this species. No significant differences were observed between the groups of Spermophilus citellus the species of the Renal corpuscle area, perimeter and diameter measurements, while significant differences were recorded between the groups of the Spermophilus taurensis and Spermophilus xanthoprymnus species. In the Bowman capsule increase in Spermophilus taurensis and Spermophilus xanthoprymnus was observed after hibernation, while it was not observed in the S.citellus group. In the proximal tubule area, a significant difference was observed in the groups of species within themselves, while no significant difference was observed between species.