Three-Dimensional Aspects of the Lingual Papillae and Their Connective Tissue Cores in the Tongue of Rats: A Scanning Electron Microscope Study

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to describe the tridimensional morphological characteristics of the lingual papillae and their connective tissue cores (CTCs) in Sprague Dawley rats. Four types of papillae were reported on the dorsal surface. Filiform papillae were distributed on the tongue surface and after epithelial maceration a conic and multifilamentary shape of the CTCs was revealed. Fungiform papillae were reported on the rostral and middle regions covered by a squamous epithelium. After the removal of the epithelium, the shape of a volcano with the taste orifice at its top was noted. Foliate papillae were composed of five pairs of epithelial folds situated on the lateral-caudal margin of the tongue. After the removal of the epithelium, they were shown to be limited by thin laminar projections. The vallate papilla with an oval shape was present in the caudal region and delimited by an incomplete groove. The morphological characteristics of the lingual papillae of Sprague Dowley rats, three-dimensional SEM images, and the types of papillae on the dorsal surface were similar to those reported previously in other rodent mammals. The maceration technique revealed the details of extracellular matrix with varied shapes form of connective tissue cores.

Morphology and microstructure of the tongue of the lesser bamboo rat (Cannomys badius)

“…The lesser bamboo rat had two vallate papillae, similar to those in its spalacid relatives (Kilinc et al, ; Wannaprasert, ), caviids (Ciena et al, ; Emura et al, ; Santos et al, ; Watanabe et al, ) and degu (Cizek, Hamouzova, Jekl, Kvapil, & Tichy, ). Only a single papilla is observed in the mouse (Kobayashi et al, ), bank vole (Jackowiak & Godynicki, ) and lab rat (Reginato et al, ). There are three papillae in the flying squirrel (Emura et al, ), American beaver (Shindo et al, ), Hazel dormouse (Wołczuk, ) and Persian squirrel (Sadeghinezhad et al, ), whereas four papillae are reported in the agouti (Ciena et al, ).…”

“…Among mammals, rodents constitute the largest order in terms of the number of species and diverse ecological niches. The features of the lingual papillae have been studied in many domestic and wild rodents, such as the mouse, rat, beaver and capybara (Kobayashi, Miyata, Takahashi, & Iwasaki, ; Reginato, Bolina, Watanabe, & Ciena, ; Shindo et al, ; Watanabe et al, ). The papillae in two spalacid rodents, the blind mole rat and large bamboo rat, have also been described (Kilinc et al, ; Wannaprasert, ).…”

Morphological characteristics of the papillae and lingual epithelium of guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)

“…The rodent mammals had fewer vallate papillae, or rather, a single one in rats (Iino & Kobayashi, ; Reginato, Bolina, Watanabe, & Ciena, ), mice (Iino & Kobayashi, ) and bank voles (Jackowiak & Godynicki, ). Two vallate papillae occurred in the nutria (Emura et al., ), rabbit (Silva et al., ), capybara (Emura, ; Jackowiak & Godynicki, ), blind mole rat (Kilinc et al., ) and Patagonian cavy (Emura et al., ).…”

Effect of irinotecan on the tongue mucosa of juvenile male albino rat at adulthood

“…The anterior region of Wistar albino rat's tongue dorsum contains two types of papillae: filiform and fungiform papillae, while few circumvallate papillae are seen in the posterior region of the tongue; (Karakoç et al.,). The number of circumvallate papillae varies from none to fourteen among the different species of mammals, and the Wistar albino rat is characterized by the presence of a solitary circumvallate papilla . The filiform papillae are suggested to act as a mirror of the general health status, so any nutritional deficiency or drug toxicity would result in alterations to these papillae …”

“…The number of circumvallate papillae varies from none to fourteen among the different species of mammals, 9 and the Wistar albino rat is characterized by the presence of a solitary circumvallate papilla. 10 The filiform papillae are suggested to act as a mirror of the general health status, so any nutritional deficiency or drug toxicity would result in alterations to these papillae. 7 Oral complications such as salivary gland dysfunction, bacterial, fungal or viral mucosal infection, dental caries and taste alterations have been associated with a variety of chemotherapeutic agents.…”