Effects of chemical sympathectomy on postnatal development of the rat submandibular gland.

Temporary chemical sympathectomy was accomplished by daily injection of the catecholamine-depleting agent, reserpine, for the first six days of life. The rat pups were then allowed to mature, and their submandibular glands (SMG) sequentially examined by light and electron microscopy. Reserpine retarded SMG development by about two weeks when compared to saline-treated litter-mates. One day after the end of reserpine treatment, glands appeared rudimentary, similar to those of newborns. With age the glands matured, and seven weeks after treatment (eight weeks of age), there were few structural differences between glands from experimental or control animals. In a separate experiment, 12 newborn rats were treated with reserpine for six days and then allowed to mature to 12 weeks. Three developed an obstructive sialadenitis. Several experiments were run to see if this lesion could be replicated. Only three of 36 more animals developed sialadenitis, so its induction was neither consistent nor reproducible.