Abstract:
Cimetidine is histamine H2 receptor antagonist, its main clinical use is as an inhibitor of
gastric acid secretion. For this study 12 (6 months old) female rabbits were used in this experiment.
The rabbits were divided into four groups, three rabbits each.; viz:G1 received therapeutic dose of the
drug (55.5 mg); G 2 received double therapeutic dose; G 3 received triple therapeutic dose; the fourth
group served as a control. The injection was given twice daily for four weeks. The parotid glands were
removed, fixed in neutral buffered formalin and processed for paraffin embedding. The sections were
stained with haematoxyline and eosin, one step trichrome, and PAS stains Histometric evaluations of
diameter of secretory end pieces were conducted. Data, expressed as means ± SEM, were analyzed by
ANOVA and multiple comparison tests. Probability less than 0.05 is considered significant. In
cimetidine treated rabbits the pronounced observations in the parotid gland were the decrease in the
diameter of the acini ; increase in the connective tissue fibers; lymphocytic infiltration; increase in the
amount of fat. The accumulation of fat cells and connective tissue fibers was considered as premature
age changes in the gland. Fat deposition and fibrosis seen in cimetidine treated group may be related to
parenchymal destruction caused by lymphocytic infiltrations. Our histological findings have
demonstrated that the use of cimetidine has an inhibitory action on the activity and nature of saliva
synthesized by the parotid glands in rabbits
