Experimental models of acute and chronic sialoadenitis in the guinea pig

Acute and chronic sialoadenitis were induced in ovalbumin-immunized guinea pigs by a single or repeated (once a day for 5 days) instillation of antigen into the parotid gland via the parotid duct. The acute sialoadenitis was characterized by infiltration of inflammatory polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the chronic one, by extensive tissue destruction together with infiltration of mononuclear leukocytes. In acute sialoadenitis, myeloperoxidase activity in the parotid gland, which was a marker of accumulation of neutrophils, was elevated, but in the chronic stage, it returned nearly to the control level. This observation is in accord with the histological findings that infiltrating cells in acute and chronic sialoadenitis were mainly polymorphonuclear and mononuclear leukocytes, respectively. Although cyclophosphamide suppressed the inflammation, both in acute and chronic sialoadenitis, indomethacin exerted its anti-inflammatory effect only in the acute stage. Our experimental models of acute and chronic sialoadenitis were easy to prepare, and had a high incidence. As the typical features of inflammatory development from acute to chronic phases were observed in these models, these models may be useful for studying the mechanism of the chronic course in immunologically induced inflammation and the effects of drugs on each phase and the chronic course of inflammation.