Glands Distributed in the Lamina Propria Mucosae of the Esophagus in the Gecko and Japanese Lizard

Abstract

In an earlier study, we found compound tubular glands distributed in the lamina propria mucosae of human and fowl esophagus. Subsequently, we discovered bottle-shaped glands in the Japanese lizard and gecko esophagus in the same lamina as that of the human and fowl. Moreover those glands produced equivalent pepsinogen granules. We provide below, a detailed description on the results. 1. Bottle-shaped glands were distributed in the lamina propria mucosae of the Japanese lizard and gecko esophagus. 2. A large number of those glands were distributed in the lower region of the esophagus, but did not exist in the upper and middle regions of the esophagus. 3. The esophageal mucous membrane of the gecko and Japanese lizard were covered with a simple columnar ciliated epithelium, and the same epithelium reacted strongly to PAS and AB (pH 2.5), moderately to AB (pH 0.5) or negatively. 4. PAS-AB (pH 2.5) stain presented a dark blue color or a deep red color or a deep red and dark blue mixed color in one section. 5. The above-mentioned glands contained pepsinogen granules. 6. Those glands do not possess parietal cells.