CARBOHYDRATE HISTOCHEMISTRY OF THE SALIVARY GLANDS AND PANCREAS IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS

Various histochemical methods for demonstrating complex tissue carbohydrates were applied to salivary gland and pancreatic tissue from four known cases of cystic fibrosis. Aside from the usual methods, e.g., periodic acid Schiff and alcian blue, the p-hydrazinobenzenesulfonic acid reaction was found to be particularly valuable as a survey method for estimating concentrations of vicinal hydroxyl groups. In the pancreas, submandibular and parotid glands striking changes in carbohydrate histochemistry occur in the small intralobular (intercalated) ducts which normally secrete relatively little or no mucopolysaccharide. The lumina of salivary gland striated ducts and large excretory ducts frequently contain inspissated mucus. In the sublingual glands the inspissated mucus is mixed with considerable amounts of deoxyribonucleic acid. Vibrio cholera neuraminidase significantly reduces acid group staining in most of the epithelial mucus although some resistance to digestion by this enzyme is evident. Some acid group substances appear in the interstices of sublingual glands which exhibit the histochemical characteristics of epithelial mucin. This reaction is consistent with a "leakage" of some of the sialomucins from the acini into the interstitial areas.