[A quantitative histological investigation of salivary glands of human and experimental animals]

The pairs of three major salivary glands of eight kinds of full grown experimental animals were sectioned and examined by morphometric techniques. The televised image-analysis system was used to determine the acinar area and proportional volumes of component tissue. The results were compared with those of the same glands from human. There were no differences between the three acinar areas of human and monkey. The acinar area of human parotid was the smallest except that of rabbit. The acinar area of human submandibular gland was larger than that of rodents but smaller than that of other animals. There were no differences between the acinar area of sublingual glands of human and animal except those of rabbit and goat. The acinar area of mucous acini was larger than that of serous and seromucous acini. The mean proportional volume of acini of human parotid was less than that of other animals. The duct systems of rodents submandibular were far more than those of other animals. In sublingual glands, there were no differences in mean proportional volume of component tissue between human and animals except there were more acini and less fiber in rodents' subingual glands.