Age-related changes in proliferative markers in labial salivary glands: a study of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and Ki-67.

The aim of the present study was to examine age-related changes in the proliferative capacity of acinar and ductal cells in labial salivary glands of healthy subjects as reflected by AgNOR and Ki-67 parameters. The study was conducted on 24 postmortem samples of labial salivary glands free from salivary gland tumors/diseases. Samples were equally divided into three age groups: young (mean age 17 yr), adult (mean age 38 yr) and old (mean age 84 yr). The number of profiles of AgNOR (nNOR) and AgNOR profile area per nucleus (TVNOR) were histomorphometrically assessed by CUE-3 automatic image analyzer on 30 nuclei of acinar and intercalated ductal cells in each age group. The percentage of Ki-67 positively stained acinar and ductal cells was evaluated histomorphometrically. Statistical analysis was carried out by one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests. In the acinar cells, nNOR increased significantly with aging (p<0.00001), while TVNOR did not change significantly. In the ductal cells, both nNOR and TVNOR increased significantly (p<0.00001) with a relatively higher increase in TVNOR. Since only isolated acinar and ductal cells demonstrating Ki-67 positive nuclei were found in the different age groups, the overall proliferation index was estimated to be 0%. Thus, it is suggested that age-related changes in AgNOR parameters could reflect changes in the metabolic cell activity rather than changes in their proliferative capacity. In this context, AgNOR results are in accordance with the histomorphometric and physiologic age-related changes occurring in labial salivary glands.