Synthesis and secretion of amylase in the rat parotid gland following autonomic nerve stimulation in vivo.

Parasympathetic and sympathetic nerve stimulation in vivo, individually and in combination, was used to study secretion and synthesis of amylase in the rat parotid gland. After 30 min with sympathetic nerve stimulation (3 Hz) a decrease in glandular amylase was seen, which corresponded approximately to the salivary output. On the other hand, after parasympathetic stimulation (10 Hz), chosen to obtain comparable amylase output, there was no decrease in glandular amylase, which points to synthesis during such activation. Experiments with incorporation of [3H]leucine, reflecting amylase synthesis, showed that both types of nerve stimulations increased such uptake in parotid protein. These results indicate that beside sympathetic activity, which is the main stimulus for granular amylase secretion, parasympathetic nerve impulses can evoke considerable amylase secretion because amylase synthesis is stimulated and amylase is rapidly available from a special, possibly non-granular pool. As expected from previous experiments an augmentation of amylase secretion was found, and the present experiments also indicated an augmentation at the level of synthesis when the two nerves were stimulated at the same time.