A Description of the Salivary Glands of the Rat and a Procedure for Their Extirpation 1,2

Abstract

The possibility that the salivary glands have functions in addition to those of aiding deglutition and digestion of food has never been satisfactorily investigated. The only evidence of auxiliary salivary functions consists of occasional reports in the literature claiming increased dental caries (1), effects on blood pressure (2), change in glucose tolerance (3, 4), reduction in dental calcification (5), and variations in the gastric secretions (6,7,8,9) due to absence of the normal salivary secretion. Oral manifestations reported are difficulty in mastication and articulation, dry and atrophic oral mucous membranes, fissured tongue, retention of food debris and, in all cases, the necessity of taking considerable amounts of water with the food.Using 2 dogs, Fehr (10) in 1862 was one of the first to sense the value of using experimental extirpation of the salivary glands as a means of studying their activities. Because comparative studies on operative physiology (11), type of secretion (12), enzymatic action (13), and histology (14, 15) between the salivary glands of man and the rat have indicated a marked similarity, and because the animal has been so well studied, even in its dental aspects (16,17,18,19,20), the albino rat (Mus norvegicus albinus) was chosen as the experimental animal for the studies of the salivary glands and the development of a technique for their surgical removal.For convenience and simplicity of presentation, it seems best, first, to give a summary of the nature and anatomical distribution of the 1 The study upon which this report is based was made possible by funds granted by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Oral candidosis by Candida albicans in normal and xerostomic mice

“…Xerostomia was obtained by surgical removal of the major salivary glands, according to Cheyne 4 (1939), with modifications. Before the beginning of the experiment, the presence of Candida in the oral cavity of the normal and sialoadenectomized animals was analyzed by plating the collected material from the oral cavity of the mice with a sterile swab (CB Products, SP, Brazil) in Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol (quemicetina succinato, Carlo Erba, 0.1 mg/ml, SP, Brazil).…”

“…Rats have been used as an experimental model in studies on oral candidosis and also to evaluate the influence of local and systemic factors 1,4,10 . The use of mice as an experimental model in studies on oral candidosis is relevant, since Candida is not part of their indigenous oral microbiota 14 .…”

Temperature regulation and salivation following preoptic lesions in the rat.

“…Desativation. The surgical procedure followed was basically that described by Cheyne (1939). Surgery was performed under ether anesthesia.…”

Radiographic analysis of the development of periapical lesions in normal rats, sialoadenectomized rats and sialoadenectomized‐immunosuppressed rats

“…The animals were divided equally in three groups: group I -20 normal rats (control group); group II -20 sialoadenectomised rats; and group III -20 sialoadenectomised-immunosuppressed rats. First, groups II and III were sialoadenec- 155 tomised using the modified Cheyne technique (8). The sublingual, submandibular and parotid glands of the animals were surgically removed.…”