Objectives: Salivary glands are exocrine glands that function in salivary secretion and maintenance of the well-being of mouth. therefore, reduced saliva secretion has an adverse effect on oral health, general health, as well as the quality of life of the patients. Over the last decades, Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have received great interest due to their potential implications in regenerative medicine.
Aim of the Study: The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic possible effect of locally injected BM-MSCs on regeneration of SMG after duct deligation in Albino rats using the transmission electron microscope.
Material and Methods: The study sample was consisting of 50 adult male Albino rats. Forty rats were randomly divided into two equal experimental groups; group I was subjected to extra-oral SMD ligation for two weeks and left without any treatment after duct deligation, and group II was subjected to extra-oral SMD ligation for two weeks and locally injected with BM-MCs at the time of deligation. The remaining ten rats were used for the isolation of BM-MSCs. Five rats of each group were sacrificed at day zero, just after deligation, and before any treatment to evaluate the effect of ligation and then on 3, 7 and 14 days after deligation respectively. The rats were anesthetized, and the specimens of SMG were collected and prepared for TEM investigation.
Results: TEM results of right SMGs revealed marked degenerative changes that increased in their severity from day zero to fourteen after delegation. Nonetheless, in the BM-MCs group, obvious regeneration of SMG tissues appeared at all follow-up periods commencing from day 3 to 14.
Conclusion: The extra-oral SMD ligation causes severe irreversible atrophic changes of SMG tissues. Moreover, locally injected BM-MCs offer great promise in SMG regeneration