Aim: To evaluate the possible regenerative effect of allogenic gingival margin-derived stem cells (GMSCs) with or without fibrin glue on partially dissected submandibular salivary glands of rats.
Design: Forty rats were divided randomly into four equal groups. Group I considered as a negative control where no operation was done. Group II rats were served as the positive control and subjected to a rectangular cut in the center of right submandibular salivary gland's outer surface and received no treatment. Groups III and IV rats were handled as group II and instead, the cut areas of group III were filled with fibrin glue and the cut borders of group IV were injected with 1x105 cell/ml GMSCs and the cut areas were glued with fibrin glue. Five animals from each group were euthanized at the end of the 1st week, while the remaining numbers were euthanized 2 weeks postoperatively, at the end of the experiment.
Results:GMSCs treated group showed improvement in both ductal and acinar cell proliferation.
Conclusion: GMSCs may be a promising treatment modality for injured salivary glands.
Keywords: Gingival margin-derived stem cells, fibrin glue, submandibular salivary gland, proliferating nuclear cell antigen, alpha smooth muscle actin, histomorphometry.