Generally, the major causative factor of halitosis is thought to be a sulfated compounds. Clusterin, a sulfated glycoprotein-2(SGP-2), composed of two disulfide linked subunits. It is conceivable that clusterin might be one of candidates causing halitosis. We assume that clusterin found in the salivary glands under stress conditions might also be attributed to unidentifiable halitosis. Therfore, this study was performed to examine clusterin in the salivary glands under stress conditions.
For this study, 24 rats were divided into 2 groups. ; 1)18 rats of group I were bathed in cold water for 30 seconds twice a day 2) 6 .rats of group IIH were selected as a control. The animals were sacrificed at day 0, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 of the experiment and the submandibular glands and parotid glands were removed. RNAs were purified from the salivary glands and the transcription of clusterin in the glands was measured by Northern blot analysis. The specimens of the salivary glands were subjected to Hematoxillin-Eosin and PAS stainings and examined under the light microscope.
The findings were as follows:
1. In group I, clusterin was expressed remarkably in the submandibular glands at day 5 but in the parotid glands remarkably at day 3 and slightly at day 7.
2. No significant histologic change was found in the salivary glands except that acini were slightly apart from each other under the cold stress condition.
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