Structural Histological changes in the parotid salivary gland of rabbit treated with neostigmine

Abstract

Back ground: Neostigmine is parasympathomimetic drug. It is commonly used for treatment of myasthenia gravis, glaucoma, urinary retention, xerostomia, and post operative ileus. Parasympathomimetic drugs increase the rate of salivation. Methods: Twelve female rabbits were used in this experiment to show the effect of neostigmine. Therapeutic, double therapeutic and triple therapeutic doses of the drug were administered intramuscularly for two weeks. Samples of parotid salivary glands were processed for light microscopy. Sections of parotid were stained with H&E, PAS, and alcian blue. Statistical analysis was followed to measure the diameter of the secretory acini. Results: The most noticeable changes were significant increase in the diameter of the secretory acini, and vacuolation with foamy appearance of the cells of the acini in treated groups. The PAS positive reaction in the acini was decreased as the dose of the drug increased. It was completely vanished in triple therapeutic dose of the drug. Negative reaction was obtained after alcian blue staining. Conclusion: Neostigmine as sialogogues drug simulates the effect of parasympathomimetic drugs. The structural histological alterations noticed in this study substantiate the use of this drug in cases of xerostomia