Comparison of membrane phospholipid and its fatty acid compositions in developing rat salivary glands

Phospholipid Profiles in the Salivary Glands of Rats of Different Ages

It has been reported that diabetes and Sjögren's syndrome patients exhibit variations in the amount of salivation and in the lipid components in saliva and salivary glands. We examined whether lipid compositions, especially phospholipid ones in the salivary glands of rats varied with aging. We analyzed phospholipid and fatty acid compositions in the salivary glands of young (5 to 6 weeks), adult (20 weeks), and old (50 weeks) rats and biochemical components in their blood. The aging (adult and old) rats had higher triacylglycerol, total lipid, total cholesterol and glucose contents in the plasma than the young one. The aging ones also had higher total lipid contents in the major salivary glands (parotid, submandibular and sublingual glands). They had higher wet weights of the major salivary glands and epididymal fat pads than the young ones, but had lower ratios of the major salivary glands to body weight. All of them had high phospholipid contents in the parotid and submandibular glands as compared to sublingual gland, but the aging ones had lower percentage of phospholipid contents of all salivary glands. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were predominant among the phospholipids in the major salivary glands, and little difference was observed in phospholipid composition among the three groups. Palmitic and stearic acids (saturated acids), and linoleic, oleic and arachidonic acids (unsaturated acids) were major components of fatty acids of phospholipids in the major salivary glands. The aging ones had higher linoleic and lower arachidonic acid contents in the glands than the young one. In summary, the aging rats had higher total lipid contents than the young ones and had lower phospholipid contents of the major salivary glands. The n-6 fatty acid contents differed between aging and young ones. The results suggest that phospholipids in the major salivary glands change with the development of rat.

Effects of ageing on morphology, amylase release, cytosolic Ca2+ signals and acyl lipids in isolated rat parotid gland tissue

Xerostomia (oral dryness sensation) is due to dryness of the oral cavity and it is more prevalent in the elderly. This study investigated the effect of ageing on parotid gland structure and function of control (2-6 months) and aged (12, 16-18 and 22-24 months) rats employing light microscopic, colorimetric, gas chromatographic and microspectrofluorimetric methods to investigate the morphological changes of the parotid glands, amylase release, endogenous lipid distribution and cytosolic free calcium levels, respectively. When compared to controls, age-related changes were apparent in glands obtained from rats aged 16-18 and 22-24 months, which included reduced acinar cell distribution, enlarged parotid ducts with fatty and connective tissue and mast cell infiltrations. Parotid acini from 12, 16-18 and 22-24-month-old glands showed significant (p < 0.05) age-related decreases in amylase release, compared to controls when challenged with acetylcholine (ACh). No change in basal calcium signals was observed in parotid acini from 2-6 to 16-18-month-old-animals. However, stimulation of 16-18-month-old parotid acini with 10(-5)M ACh resulted in a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in both peak and plateau phases of the cytosolic Ca2+ signal when compared to control. Gas chromatography of de novo and essential acyl lipids revealed no changes in the amount of either acyl lipid group in glands obtained from 2-6 to 22-24-month-old animals. Lipid analysis of phospholipid associated acyl chains showed a higher relative proportion of linoleic acid in older glands. The results reveal that ageing is associated with marked and distinct morphological changes including infiltrations of lipids and mast cells of the parotid gland and decreases in amylase release and cytosolic Ca2+ signals.