Advances in Dental Research, Vol 7, 220-224, Copyright © 1993 by International & American Associations for Dental Research
New approaches for determining the site of salivary fluid secretory disorders
B. J. Baum, Y. Hiramatsu, W. G. Kohn and I. H. Valdez
Clinical Investigations and Patient Care Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Considerable progress has been made in understanding the events which
underlie salivary fluid secretion. We have utilized novel approaches to
evaluate the functional status of three distinct sites in the secretory
cascade. First, salivary sympathetic nerve function studies used isotopic
dopamine to measure catecholamine uptake and metabolism in vivo. Second,
salivary muscarinic-cholinergic receptors were characterized in vivo by use
of stereo-specific ligands and pharmacokinetic analyses. Finally,
microfluorometric methods were used to study intracellular Ca2+ signaling
in dispersed cells prepared from biopsied tissue. We conclude that it is
possible to determine the functional status of key steps in salivary fluid
generation with isotopic and fluorometric imaging techniques.
