On the mechanism of the hypertrophy of the retrolingual glands of the rat induced by incisor amputations.

Abstract

Abstract The role of the autonomic nervous system in the retrolingual hypertrophy induced by repeated bilateral amputations of the inferior incisor was studied in white male rats and compared with its role in the hypertrophy of the submaxillary glands. Parasympathetic denervation through bilateral sectioning of the chordalingual nerve produced atrophy of the submaxillary and retrolingual glands, it prevented completely the hypertrophy of the retrolingual glands following amputations of the incisor, but it did not prevent the hypertrophy of the submaxillary glands. Sympathetic denervation through bilateral resection of the superior cervical ganglia produced atrophy of the submaxillary but not of the retrolingual glands and it did not prevent hypertrophy of either the retrolingual or the submaxillary glands after incisor amputations. The hypertrophy of the submaxillary gland following incisor amputations was prevented only by denervation of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, it being transmitted by both nerves. The hypertrophy of the retrolingual gland following incisor amputations is transmitted only by the parasympathetic innervation.