Regeneration of taste buds after surgical excision of human vallate papilla.

We examined regenerative capabilities of vallate papilla and taste buds in a human adult after complete surgical excision of the papilla and underlying glands and muscle. Although trenchlike invaginations were observed in the healed epithelium biopsied 18 months after papilla removal, no normal papilla, characterized by definite boundaries and circular trench, could be found. A few regenerated taste buds, totaling slightly more than 7% of the number counted in the excised papilla, were present on the top surface of the regenerated epithelium. They were longer and narrower than the original buds, but otherwise appeared normal and most had distinct taste pores. Our findings confirm earlier reports that vallate papillae fail to reform if surgical excision is complete, but that taste buds can develop and will regenerate in tongue epithelium of nonhuman species without the presence of the original papilla.