While salivary secretion is not initiated by circulating hormones, there are significant endocrine influences on the development, structure and function of salivary glands. Experimental animal models of diabetes mellitus have been used to study all aspects of diabetic pathophysiology. There is now a considerable body of evidence demonstrating that the effects of diabetes on rodent salivary glands are related as much to the indirect consequences of insulin insufficiency on the circulating levels of other hormones, and autonomic nerve function, as to the direct actions of insulin. In addition to their exocrine functions, salivary glands also play an endocrine role. Rodent submandibular glands, in particular, are a rich source of biologically active polypeptides, which are synthesized in the granular ducts. Although many of these polypeptides are released into both the blood and the saliva, their physiological functions have yet to be fully explored. Nevertheless, the disruption of submandibular gland endocrine function has been postulated to contribute to the pathology observed in diabetic animals.
Biomedical Reviews 1998; 9: 107-119.
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