The problem of the effect of parasympathetic denervation on the protein metabolism of the submaxillary salivary glands of the cat

Summary The author studied the influence of unilateral and bilateral section of the chorda tympani on the protein metabolism and the secretory function of the submaxillary salivary glands in cats. The reflex and the paralytic secretion in the denervated glands was absent. The nitrogen content of mucin in the tissues of these glands increased.Changes in protein metabolism and in the secretory activity of the glands were more marked with bilateral denervation. Denervation did not stop secretion and synthesis of protein. Administration of pilocarpine caused typical changes in the salivary secretion and in the content of nitrogenous substances in the saliva and in the tissue of the salivary glands: 1) thelatent period decreased; 2) the maximum quantity of the secreted saliva was changed; 3) after denervation the total amount of saliva secreted in 2 hours decreased (the content of the nitrogenous substances, however, was much higher than before denervation; 4) after pilocarpine the nitrogen content of mucin in the tissues of the denervated glands decreased and the content of protein which was not precipitated with mucin and which is typical of an actively secreting gland increased.Thus, the parasympathetic denervation alters protein metabolism and the secretory function of the submaxillary salivary glands in cats.(Presented by Active Member AMN SSSR V. N. Chernigovskii) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 50, No. 10, pp. 67–73, October, 1960