Changes in Submaxillary Gland Gene Expression in F344 Rats by Multiple Dosing of Theophylline

Abstract

Theophylline (1,3-dimethylxyanthine) is a non-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor commonly used for the treatment of bronchial asthma. Since PDE enzymes hydrolyze cyclic AMP, theophylline enhances the cyclic AMP signal by inhibiting this hydrolysis. Cyclic AMP works as an intracellular second messenger and provides the signal for smooth muscle relaxation in the bronchial airways. Therapeutic doses of theophylline range from 400 to 600 mg/day.Repeated administration of toxic doses of theophylline evokes submaxillary gland hypertrophy characterized by an increased number of secretory vesicles in the acinar epithelial cells [5,13]. In the field of toxicology, it has been reported that repeated administration of PDE inhibitors produces salivary gland

Selection of housekeeping genes for gene expression studies in the adult rat submandibular gland under normal, inflamed, atrophic and regenerative states

“…Although no in depth studies are apparent in the submandibular gland tissue, there have been numerous research papers which have used single housekeeping genes to control for gene expression in this tissue. These have included the use of 18 S rRNA [ 38 , 39 ], GAPDH [ 40 ] and ACTB [ 41 , 42 ] for normalisation. Nevertheless, it is not always clear on what basis these various control genes were chosen, and of the various ones used, which were the most appropriate.…”