Sørensen Christiane Elisabeth, Larsen Jytte Overgaard, Reibel Jesper, Lauritzen Martin, Mortensen Erik Lykke, Osler Merete, Pedersen Anne Marie Lynge
Section of Oral Medicine, Clinical Oral Physiology, Oral Pathology and Anatomy, Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Alle 20, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Alle 20, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Exp Gerontol. 2014 Sep;57:211-7. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2014.06.004. Epub 2014 Jun 4.
One aim of the present study was to investigate whether symptoms of oral dryness (xerostomia) during daytime, assessed in a study group of middle-aged male positive and negative outliers in cognition scores, were associated with age-related degenerative changes in human labial salivary glands and with quantitative measures of the glandular autonomic innervation. Another aim was to study the relation between the autonomic innervation and loss of secretory acinar cells in these glands.
Labial salivary gland biopsies were taken from the lower lip from 190 men, born in 1953 and members of the Danish Metropolit birth cohort, who were examined for age-related changes in cognitive function and dental health as part of the Copenhagen University Center for Healthy Aging clinical neuroscience project. The glands were routinely processed and semi-quantitatively analyzed for inflammation, acinar atrophy, fibrosis, and adipocyte infiltration. Sections of labial salivary gland tissue were stained with the panneuronal marker PGP 9.5. In a subsample of 51 participants, the autonomic innervation of the glands was analyzed quantitatively by use of stereology.
Labial salivary gland tissue samples from 33% of all participants displayed moderate to severe acinar atrophy and fibrosis (31%). Xerostomia was not significantly associated with structural changes of labial salivary glands, but in the subsample it was inversely related to the total nerve length in the glandular connective tissue. Acinar atrophy and fibrosis were negatively correlated with the parenchymal innervation and positively related to diffuse inflammation.
The results from the present study indicate that aspects of the autonomic innervation of labial salivary glands may play a role in the occurrence of xerostomia which in the present study group was not significantly associated with degenerative changes in these glands. The findings further indicate that the integrity of labial salivary gland acini is related to the parenchymal autonomic innervation, whereas inflammatory processes may compromise it by alternative mechanisms.
本研究的一个目的是调查在一组认知分数为正、负异常值的中年男性研究对象中，白天口腔干燥（口干症）症状是否与人类唇唾液腺的年龄相关性退行性变化以及腺体自主神经支配的定量指标相关。另一个目的是研究这些腺体中自主神经支配与分泌性腺泡细胞丢失之间的关系。
唇唾液腺活检取自1953年出生的190名男性下唇，他们是丹麦大都市出生队列的成员，作为哥本哈根大学健康老龄化临床神经科学项目的一部分，接受了认知功能和牙齿健康方面的年龄相关性变化检查。腺体常规处理后，对炎症、腺泡萎缩、纤维化和脂肪细胞浸润进行半定量分析。唇唾液腺组织切片用泛神经元标志物PGP 9.5染色。在51名参与者的子样本中，通过体视学定量分析腺体的自主神经支配。
所有参与者中33%的唇唾液腺组织样本显示中度至重度腺泡萎缩和纤维化（31%）。口干症与唇唾液腺的结构变化无显著相关性，但在子样本中，它与腺性结缔组织中的总神经长度呈负相关。腺泡萎缩和纤维化与实质神经支配呈负相关，与弥漫性炎症呈正相关。
本研究结果表明，唇唾液腺自主神经支配的某些方面可能在口干症的发生中起作用，在本研究组中，口干症与这些腺体的退行性变化无显著相关性。研究结果还表明，唇唾液腺腺泡的完整性与实质自主神经支配有关，而炎症过程可能通过其他机制损害其完整性。
