Abstract
Summary
Physiological activity of the parotid gland was reduced by maintenance of immature and adult rats on a liquid diet. The general status of the gland was determined by measurements of weight while the status of the individual cellular components was determined by measurements of cell size and nucleic acids. In the developing parotid, reduced physiological activity inhibited the growth of the gland by inhibiting growth in both cell number and cell size. In the mature parotid, reduced physiological activity resulted in a decrease in cell size only. When glandular activity was returned to normal by feeding solid food in both the immature and adult rat, the gland and its cellular components were restored to expected levels.
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