EL-Kordy EA, Alanazi AD, Ali SS, Makhlouf MMM and Rabah SO
Introduction: The submandibular gland is the largest salivary glands that secrete saliva. Starvation or food deprivation was found to influence all body metabolic activities that are reflected on the structure of many organs including salivary glands.
Aim of the work: This work is aimed to study the possible histological, histochemical and ultrastructural changes of submandibular gland associated with long-term (7 and 14 days) food deprivation.
Materials and Methods: Twenty young male cats were divided into 2 main groups. Group I: served as control, received solid diet for 7 and 14 days. Group II: animals were starved for 7 and 14 days. The cats were sacrificed and specimens from submandibular gland were taken for light and electron microscopic examination.
Results: Light microscopic examination of starved cats revealed distension of secretory units with secretory granules, vacuolated cytoplasm and pyknotic nuclei. The changes were augmented with prolongation of periods of starvation for 14 days. Histochemically, starvation leads to a decrease or alteration in metachromatic staining of secretory granules that tends to be unstained with prolonged period of starvation for 14 days. Ultrastructurally, the secretory granules of acinar and demilunar cells appeared with more electron dense with degeneration of rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria as well as significant accumulation of lipid droplets within these cells and in striated ducts. Conclusion: Results obtained in this study demonstrated that food deprivation for long periods induced marked histological, histochemical and ultrastructural changes in the submandibular gland as well as altered saliva composition with a concomitant decrease in acid and neutral mucosubstances.
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