Abstract
Histochemical and ultrastructural changes in tracheal glands of rats with artificially induced diabetes were studied. The diabetic condition was induced by streptozotocin. The tracheal gland is composed of a duct and secretory units, mucus tubules and serous acini in diabetic as well as normal rats. In normal rats, the serous acinar cells contained only neutral polysaccharides. In diabetic rats, on the other hand, the serous acinar cells contained not only neutral but also moderate amounts of what appeared to be sialic acid containing compounds. On the ultrastructural level, two kinds of serous cells were observed in diabetic rats, one of which contained homogeneous granules while the other containing heterogeneous granules. The ratio between the number of cells containing heterogeneous granules and cells with homogeneous granules increased with the duration of the diabetic condition in the rat. Changes within the serous cells of diabetic rats might depress tracheal host defense mechanisms and could explain why airway infections are common in patients suffering from diabetes.
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