The effect of chronic isoproterenol administration on the plasma membrane of acinar cells in rat submandibular gland.

The effect of chronic administration of isoproterenol on the plasma membrane of acinar cells in the rat submandibular gland was studied by biochemical and immunohistochemical methods, using dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP) IV as a marker enzyme. Chronic isoproterenol treatment led to a marked reduction of DPP IV activity as well as of its immunoreactivity in the gland. Its effect progressively increased with the age of the animals. The present study showed that chronic treatment with isoproterenol caused a qualitative alteration of the plasma membrane of the luminal surface in acinar cells of the rat submandibular gland, and that the effect of the drug on the plasma membrane was dependent on the developmental stage of the acinar cells of the gland.