title: Regeneration of submandibular gland autografts in sympathectomized rats.
abstract: This morphologic study compares the regenerative response in submandibular gland (SMG) autografts placed in the tongues of previously sympathectomized rats to autografts placed in tongues of sham-sympathectomized rats. We hypothesized that sympathectomy would alter the process of cellular proliferation and inhibit cytodifferentiation in regenerating SMG autografts. Either 1 week, or 8 to 11 weeks following the SMG autografting procedure, the rats were sacrificed and their tongues were removed and sectioned in a cryostat. Frozen tissue sections containing the SMG autografts were either reacted for cholinesterase activity, treated with a glyoxylic acid mixture to induce histofluorescence, or stained for histologic examination. In addition, 3H-thymidine labeled and unlabeled cells were counted in autoradiographs of 1-week autografts, and these counts were used to calculate labeling indices. The 1-week SMG autografts from both the sympathectomized and the sham-sympathectomized rats were similar in histologic appearance, and neither group of autografts contained cholinesterase-positive or monoaminergic nerve fibers. The 8- to 11-week autografts from sympathectomized and sham-sympathectomized rats contained cholinesterase-positive fibers, but monoaminergic fibers were present in the autografts only from the sham-operated rats. Acinar cells were observed in one-third of the 8- to 11-week autografts of both the sympathectomized and sham-sympathectomized rats. This finding suggests that sympathectomy did not prelude cytodifferentiation in the autografts. The autoradiographic data revealed no statistically significant difference between the mean labeling indices of the 1-week autografts from the sympathectomized and sham-sympathectomized rats, which suggests that sympathectomy also did not alter the level of cellular proliferation in the autografts.
authors: Department of Oral Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912.
authors: N L
authors: NL
authors: O'Dell
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Sharawy
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Richardson
authors: C B
authors: CB
authors: Pennington
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012038:Regeneration; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D013562:Sympathectomy; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors