Degenerating taste buds in sialectomized rats.

In the present report changes are described in degenerating taste buds (TB) from rats deprived of the main salivary glands (parotid, sublingual and submaxillary glands). These changes include macrophages located inside the degenerating TB cell, lipid droplets and a heterogeneous population of digestive vacuoles. In addition, a large number of bacteria was found to permeate the apical taste pore. It is of interest that normal nerve fibers were seen synapsing with the degenerating TB cells. The sialectomy-induced degeneration of TB would not be, therefore, a consequence of neural deprivation.