Abstract:The aim of this study was to investigate distribution regularities and morphological characteristics of the Ghrelin immunoreactive cells in the digestive tract of adult Chinese Yellow Quail(Coturnix japonica). Ten Chinese Yellow Quail (five male and five female) which age were 9 weeks were killed by jugular vein blood, and the every segment of the digestive tract were immediately fixed in neutral formalin. After fixation for 24 h, tissues were dehydrated, paraffin-embedded, sectioned into 5 μm slices. Sections were stained with Immunohistochemistry SABC. The number of Ghrelin positive cells was evaluated in the every segment of the digestive tract using Nikon image analysis software, For each segment of the digestive tract, ten random fields (at ×400 magnification) were quantified, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way analysis of variance, and Dunnett’s test was employed for multiple comparisons (SPSS 17.0 software). The results showed that Ghrelin positive cells were observed in the proventriculus, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum of Chinese yellow quail(Fig.1).Their distribution density were 30.70±6.50, 26.90±5.10, 25.30±4.27, 11.40±4.14 and 1.70 + 1.56, respectively. There was a trend of gradually decreasing from the proventriculus to the cecum. Ghrelin positive cells were mainly distributed in the proventriculus leaves, intestinal epithelial cells, intestinal glandular epithelium and intestinal lamina propria. The shapes of Ghrelin positive cells were spherical, long columnar and triangle. In conclusion, Ghrelin positive cells were widely distributed in the digestive tract of adult Chinese Yellow Quail. According to the morphology of Ghrelin positive cells in the digestive tract Chinese Yellow Quail, the Ghrelin positive cells might have exocrine and endocrine functions.