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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Retroductal Submandibular Gland Instillation and Localized Fractionated Irradiation in a Rat Model of Salivary Hypofunction
Published on: April 24, 2016
Regulation of secretion by vasoactive intestinal peptide in isolated perfused rat submandibular glands
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia 65212.
Abstract:
The isolated, perfused gland was used to examine the regulation of saliva volume and protein content by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). In the absence of other secretagogues, VIP produced a modest, sustained saliva flow with a biphasic dose-response curve in which saliva volume was greatest at 1 nM VIP (28.5 +/- 3.8 microliters in the first 5 min, n = 4) but reduced at lower and higher concentrations. The protein concentration in saliva released in response to VIP (0.86 +/- 0.13 micrograms/microliters) was substantially higher than with 30 nM acetylcholine (0.06 +/- 0.02 micrograms/microliters) or 1 nM substance P (0.30 +/- 0.05 micrograms/microliters). During the first 5 min of stimulation, VIP and substance P were synergistic in terms of volume and protein content whereas inclusion of VIP did not increase acetylcholine-stimulated flow in the first 5 min but produced a higher sustained flow over the next hour. After stimulation with acetylcholine, subsequent addition of VIP transiently enhanced saliva volume and protein content in a monophasic, dose-dependent manner with effects at 1 pM VIP and higher. The responses were different for VIP compared with other cAMP-mobilizing agents and the involvement of multiple VIP receptor subtypes was suggested from experiments in which a VIP antagonist blocked the VIP enhancement of saliva volume but not the increase in protein.
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