MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF ACINI IN PAROTID GLAND IN SOME MAMMALS

Abstract

The structure of major salivary glands in animals sometimes differs according to the diet the animals have and the enviroment they live in. We did not find any information regarding the size of the acini among species, therefore we conducted morphometric investigations on the parotid gland’s acini in four mammal species (guinea pig, mouse, rabbit and chinchilla). We harvested the parotid glands and histologically processed them in order to later capture images and assess them with AmScope program (for measuring and counting the acini). The morphometric results revealed that, on the same section area, the number of acini is highest in mouse, followed by chinchilla, rabbit and guinea pigs. The largest acini in the parotid gland are found in guinea pig, followed by rabbits, mice and the smallest in chinchilla. Regarding the polymorphism in acinar size, guinea pig has the most polymorphic ones, followed by the rabbit, chinchilla and mouse. No statistically significant differences were found among mouse and chinchilla parotid gland acini sizes, but the rest of the species presented statistically significant differences among the size of their parotid gland acini.

Keywords

• acini, morphometry, parotid, rodents