Histological Examples of Varied Vallate Papillae Morphotypes

Abstract

The vallate papillae, commonly referred to as circumvallate papillae, are gustatory papillae located at the posterior dorsum of the tongue that house approximately half of the taste buds located within the tongue. Recently, twelve different gross morphotypes of vallate papillae were identified. Morphological variation of the vallate papillae could be involved with the pathogenesis of oral cancer into the base of the tongue. At present, there has not been histological assessment of the identified twelve vallate papillae morphotypes. This study assessed 30 cadaveric tongues containing approximately 300 vallate papillae by stereoscopic microscopy. The vallate papillae were identified through gross physical inspection, confirmed with the aid of loupes, and then again with a dissecting microscope with an attached digital camera interfaced with a high definition television. Images were taken of each papilla alongside digital calipers fixed to a known distance of 5.00mm, held flush to the papilla. The resulting digital pictures were then be measured with ImageJ software (NIH) by using the 5.00mm calibration as a reference. Papillae were classified based upon their morphology, and then the papillae were resected and processed for histological inspection. This project presents a qualitative gross anatomical and histological analysis of unique vallate papillae morphotypes. The results of this study may aid in differentiating normal tissues from pathological tissues and may translate into an easy, safe, and inexpensive screening tool for identifying morphological variation of the vallate papillae, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of oral cancer into the base of the tongue.Support or Funding InformationWVU Initiation to Research Opportunities (INTRO) ProgramThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.