Apparent Synthesis of Submaxillary Gland Amylase During Pilocarpine Administration

¹ From the Departments of Physiology and Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry and Medical College of Alabama' Birmingham, Alabama

Administration of the parasympathomimetic drug pilocarpine has generally been observed to result in an increased rate of salivary secretion accompanied by depletion of gland stores of specific secretory proteins. In the experiments reported here, the expected increase in secretory rate and depletion of amylase stores were observed for the parotid glands of the rat after subcutaneous administration of pilocarpine. In the case of the sub-maxillary glands, short-term stimulation by pilocarpine, although observed to result in the expected increase in the rate of fluid secretion, led to no detectable depletion but to a rapid and appreciable increase in gland levels of amylase activity. Although the mechanism of this effect remains to be established, it appears possible that in this system stimulation by the parasympathomimetic agent pilocarpine results in an unmasking of a direct effect of stimulation on the process of synthesis of new enzyme.

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