Abstract
Summary
Selective section of the auriculotemporal nerve and removal of the superior cervical ganglion in rats fed Metrecal or chow resulted in differing degrees of parotid weight reduction. The maximum reduction (50%) in weight occurred with PxSx glands of rats fed Metrecal or chow and with Px glands of rats fed Metrecal. The weight reduction in normally innervated glands of rats fed Metrecal was about 17% less than this maximal reduction. This residual autonomic influence was found to be mediated by the parasympathetic innervation and may represent a trophic effect. The sympathetic innervation, nonetheless, played a role in mediating effects of activity on parotid size. About 13% of the 33% reduction in parotid weight (disuse atrophy) induced by liquid diet was attributed to the sympathetic innervation and about 20% to the parasympathetic innervation. In view of the altered physiological status of the gland with surgical denervation, liquid diet remains a more effective and convenient means of producing disuse atrophy of parotid gland than denervation.
This work was supported in part by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service, HD00174 and DE 02110. The authors thank Mead Johnson Co. for supplying the Metrecal.
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