Effects of prolonged duct ligation of the rat salivary glands on the activity of trypsin-like protease.

The effects of ligation on body weight, protease activity and hair kynurenine content were observed. The body weights of parotid gland(PT)-ligated and of combined submandibular (SM)-, sublingual (SL)- and PT-ligated rats were much less than those of sham-operated controls. However, the weights of SM,SL-ligated rats were similar to those of controls. The activity of trypsin-like protease in the duct-ligated submandibular gland was significantly reduced to 0.3-0.7 per cent of that in controls. Protein concentration also decreased in the duct-ligated submandibular gland. Kynurenine content in the hair of duct-ligated rats was higher than that in controls.