Evaluation of the effect of estrogen and progesterone at different doses on the major salivary glands of rat

ABSTRACT

An evaluative study of the effect of different doses of estrogen andprogesterone, either singly or in combination, for 21 days was undertaken on the major salivary glands of female rats. Variable degrees of acinar atrophy in submandibular and parotid glands occurred whether estrogen and progesterone were administered individually or in combination. The most severe acinar atrophy occurred when the low doses of both hormones were combined. Conversely, sublingual acini became hypertrophic individually or in combination at the same individually given doses. While, an eventual degeneration of tubules was associated more with estrogen than with progesterone; it was most extensive when 2.1 mg progesterone was combined with a moderate dose of 0.021 mg estrogen. However, the tubules showed hormonally induced initial proliferation. The content of the acidic mucins was unchanged in parotid and submandibular glands. Conversely, this content in sublingual gland was increased with estrogen and decreased with progesterone administration