Histoarchitecture of the human parotid duct. Light-microscopic study

A light-microscopical study of the histoarchitecture of the human parotid duct was carried out. The parotid duct, much like other excretory passages, possessed three histological coats: mucosa, muscular layer and adventitia. The mucous epithelium was composed of the innermost tall columnar cells and the basal cubical cells. Numerous, circular elastic fibers were in close vicinity to the epithelium. The muscular layer consisted of smooth muscular fibers running in longitudinal direction. The adventitia consisted of lipofibrous connective tissue and contained many vessels. The result of the present study suggests that the parotid duct contributes to control of salivary secretion, since its architecture is basically similar to that of other excretory passages which have peristaltic activity.