Substance P and neurokinin A immunoreactive nerve fibres in the developing salivary glands of the rat

Abstract

The time of appearance and distribution of substance P (SP) and neurokinin A (NKA) immunoreactive nerve fibres in developing salivary glands of the rat were studied by the use of indirect immunohistochemical methods. The glands were examined at daily intervals from the 15th day in utero (i.u.) until birth, and subsequently on the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 12th, 16th and 30th postnatal day. The findings were compared to samples from adult. The first SP- and NKA-immunoreactive (IR) nerve fibres appeared on the 19th day i.u. in the parotid and submandibular glands and were abundantly distributed around developing ductal branches. In the mesenchyme around the developing ductal branches of the parotid gland the fibres appeared on the 20th day i.u. In the submandibular gland NKA-IR fibres appeared in the mesenchyme surrounding the developing ductal branches on the 19th day i.u. and SP-IR fibres on the 21st day i.u. Around blood vessels of both glands, SP- and NKA-IR fibres made their appearance only much later, on the second postnatal day. The number of SP- and NKA-IR nerve fibres in the developing salivary glands was already high on the 19th day i.u. when they were first detected. From this point up to the 16th postnatal day the glands were richly innervated by the fibres, but later the numbers slowly decreased to adult levels. The abundance of SP- and NKA-IR nerve fibres especially around the ductal branches and secretory structures in the developing salivary glands suggests a role in the functional maturation of salivary glands.

Distribution of neuropeptide-containing nerve fibers in the human submandibular gland, with special reference to the difference between serous and mucous acini

“…In the adult rat submandibular gland, abundant VIPand SP-immunoreactive fibers (Wharton et al 1979;Lundberg et al1980;Uddman et al 1980;Lundberg et al 1988;Virta et al 1992) and a few NPY-and CGRPimmunoreactive fibers (Ekström et al 1988;Lundberg et al 1988;Soinila et al 1989;Salo et al 1993b) have been observed around the acini and ducts. In the cat submandibular gland, many VIP-immunoreactive fibers (Wharton et al 1979;Lundberg et al 1980);Uddman et al 1980);Uddman et al 1980) but no NPY-, SP-or CGRP-immunoreactive fibers (Lundberg et al 1988) have been found around the acini and ducts.…”

Function of Substance P and Substance P Receptor in Exercise

“…SP has been shown to be involved in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's [14]. Substance P is released early following acute injury to the CNS as part of a neurogenic inflammatory response.…”