Histoanatomical study of the sublingual salivary gland in the buffalo

Abstract

Ten adult buffalo heads were used in this study. Following skin removal, the length, width and thickness of the gland was measured. by ruler and caliper. Dye injection was used to distinguish the sublingual duct papilla and 1 cm sections from the gland were removed and fixed to prepare histologic sections for microscopic studies. The long, ribbon like and lobulated monostomatic part of the gland is situated underneath the tongue alongside the hypoglossus muscle. The average length, width and thickness of this part was 20.6, 1.01 and 1.99 cm respectively. The polystomatic part was observed as small scattered fragments near the mucosa of the oral cavity. The average size of these fragments was approximately 0.5 cm and the diffuseness of the polystomatic part in caudal region is more than the cranial region. The monostomatic part has a single duct which together with the mandibular salivary duct enters the sublingual caruncle. The minute polystomatic ducts open into the lateral sublingual recess and their number is equal to the number of scattered parts. Histologically, approximately 90% of the secretory cells of this gland consist of mucous secreting cells.

Keywords

• Buffalo
• histoanatomy
• sublingual
• salivary gland