HISTOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE PAROTID GLAND IN RATS WITH ALLOXAN-INDUCED EXPERIMENTAL DIABETES MELLITUS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Diabetes mellitus may be associated with structural alterations in the salivary glands, including changes in acinar cells and the ductal system. The parotid gland is of particular interest because of its serous secretory function. To describe the histological features reported in the parotid gland of rats with alloxan-induced experimental diabetes after a 90-day observation period. Parotid gland tissue was fixed in 10% buffered formalin for 24 hours, processed routinely, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 3–4 μm, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Histological vacuolization was graded using the five-level scale described by, the examined diabetic-group sections were described as showing focal disruption of acinar architecture, cytoplasmic dystrophic changes involving zymogen granules, pyknotic nuclei, occasional vacuolated glandular cells, adipocytes within the parenchyma, dilated ducts with moderate sclerosis, isolated inflammatory cells, and periductal vascular congestion. The reported vacuolization grade was. The available histological material indicates several parenchymal and ductal abnormalities in the parotid gland of alloxan-diabetic rats. Because animal numbers, induction details, glucose measurements, and quantitative comparisons were not documented in the supplied material, the findings should be interpreted as descriptive and require completion of the study metadata before journal submission.