Secretory mechanisms of salivary glands

The physiology of salivary secretion has a long history going back at least to the late 18th century when Von Haller in 1760 published over 120 pages on the topic in his Elementa Physiologiae Corporis Humani. In his essay, however, he began with a confession of his complete ignorance as to the mechanism of secretion: 'Multa in physiologicis obscura sunt, obscurius hac ipsa functione nihil'. Two hundred years later, in the early 1960s, the matter had scarcely improved, but now, 25 years further on, advances in technology have made possible the experiments that throw real light on our understanding of secretion mechanisms. This review article summarizes our present-day knowledge on secretion by the major salivary glands.