Distribution of connective tissue fibers and intraepithelial granular cells in the duct system of major salivary glands in dog

ABSTRACT

Much attention was given to the structural and functional peculiarities of the different salivary glands because of its biological and multifunctional role in the digestive process. Five adult intact male dogs were used to study the distribution of the connective tissue fibers around the duct system of major salivary glands to clarify the presence of intraepithelial granular cells and to correlate these alterations with functions. The intralobular ducts were surrounded by different types of connective tissue fibers which showed the same arrangement and connected to each other. These fibers were adjacent to the duct epithelium in both parotid and sublingual glands, while these fibers were separated by a wide gap in the submandibular gland. Intraepithelial granular cells were mostly seen located within the walls of intralobular ducts of parotid gland adjacent to the basal lamina of the duct epithelium but did not appear clearly in the submandibular and sublingual glands. These granular cells possibly had a complementary role in the cell mediated immunoprotection. It appeared to be a basic correlation between different physical stimuli and structural arrangement of salivary glands declaring its biological and multifunctional role in the digestive process