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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

A Method for the Measurement of Salivary Gland Function in Mice
Published on: January 25, 2018
Sterol composition and biosynthesis in mouse salivary glands
Abstract:
Sterol components of mouse submandibular, sublingual and parotid glands were studied by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography. The major sterol was cholesterol (5-cholesten-3 beta-ol; 26.7, 28.0, 18.8 micrograms/mg protein respectively), with minor amounts of squalene, lathosterol (5 alpha-cholest-7-en-3 beta-ol), desmosterol (cholesta-5,24-dien-3 beta-ol), lanosterol (4,4',14-trimethyl-5 alpha-cholesta-8,24-dien-3 beta-ol), dihydrolanosterol (4,4',14-trimethyl-5 alpha-cholest-8-en-3 beta-ol) and methylstenol. Chromatograms of salivary sterols were similar to those of liver, and different from those of skin in which the amount of lathosterol was much higher. Administration of the anticholesterolaemic agent, 20,25-diazacholesterol, resulted in accumulation of desmosterol in all tissues tested, and additional sterols also accumulated in skin. The gas-liquid chromatographic profiles of salivary sterols from the treated animals were similar to those of liver, but different from those of skin. Thus sterols were synthesized in salivary glands and the biosynthetic pathway was via C24-unsaturated side-chain intermediates, as in liver. This was verified by showing that [2-14C]-mevalonate was incorporated into sterols in vitro when it was incubated with homogenates of these glands.
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