Changes in the lectin-binding of capillaries in rat salivary glands after streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

The lectin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate of GSA I-B4 (Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin) has some binding affinity with capillary walls in sections of the major salivary glands from normal rats. After inducing diabetes with streptozotocin a conspicuous increase in the staining intensity with GSA I-B4 was already evident in parotid capillaries at 3 weeks and this increase persisted at 3 and 6 months. In submandibular capillaries, however, an increased uptake of GSA I-B4 was evident only at 6 months after inducing diabetes. The reasons for these different time scales in the two glands are not known but the increased uptake of GSA I-B4, which is due to an increase in carbohydrate-containing sites with available terminal alpha-D-galactose, is considered to reflect a pathological change.