Development Of Acinar Cells Of The Albino Rat Submandibular Gland

A unique feature of rat submandibular gland is that acini are not developed prenatally, so they are not present at birth then develop postnatally through a complex process of postnatal differentiation.The postnatal development of the acinar cells in albino rat submandibular gland was studied. Twelve known aged albino rats were used in this study with 2 days apart from birth till 21 days. The rats were sacrificed after being anesthetized by light ether anesthesia and the submandibular glands were dissected , prepared for light microscopy, serial paraffin sections (5 um) were cut by rotator microtome then stained (using Hematoxylin & Eosin, periodic acid schiff, Masson’s trichrome and Heidenhain’s Azan stain) and examined under light microscopy.After examining the structures of the gland, the following points were obtained:1-At birth, the submandibular gland was small and completely immature being composed of an immature duct system and transient secretory .