[Morphological study of lymphatic tissues after removal of the submandibular gland in the mouse (author's transl)].

In dd-mice of both sexes, the thymus, spleen and mesenteric lymph node were morphologically examined after the submandibular gland was extirpated at 35 days of age. When the bilaterally extirpated animals were fed with dried diet pellet which was commonly given to laboratory mice, the body weight decreased rapidly after operation and the thymus and spleen generally atrophied. The atrophy of the lymphatic tissues was especially marked in mice showing a fetal loss of body weight. In the lymphatic tissues, the cortex of the thymus, the follicular area and germinal center of the splenic white pulp, and the cortex of the mesenteric lymph node underwent remarkably atrophic changes. On the other hand, however, when the mice were fed after operation with a liquid diet made of commercial dry pellets, they grow gradually and the thymus, spleen and mesenteric lymph node were almost the same in weight and structure as those in controls. Very recently Martinez-Hernandez, Nakane and Pierce reported that removal of the submandibular gland from mice and rats was followed by loss of body weight and atrophy of the thymus and spleen, and that it caused selective depletion of lymphocytes from the thymus-dependent areas in the peripheral lymphatic tissue. These findings, however, could not be confirmed in the present study.