著者

笠原 泰夫 原田 秀逸

出版者

鹿児島大学

雑誌

鹿児島大学歯学部紀要 (ISSN:03897834)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.23, pp.11-14, 2003

被引用文献数

2

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Taste bud distribution on the soft palate (SP) and within three types of tongue papillae (fungiform; FF, foliate; FL, and circumvallate; CV) were examined histologically in the rat and marmoset at different postnatal ages. Serial paraffin sections (10/μm) were made and stained by HE, and digitized images of each section were examined. At birth, the number of matured (i.e. containing taste pore) SP taste buds preceded to that of FF taste buds in the rat. One week after birth, 90% of SP taste buds and 80% of FF matured taste buds. In contrast, no taste buds with a pore were observed at birth within FL and CV in the rat. In the marmoset, the number of FF taste buds at day 1 was 334. While only 20% of all the taste buds at birth possessed a taste pore, 39% of 174 SP taste buds at day 1 possessed a taste pore. The number of matured taste buds at day 1 was small for the center CV (19 of 59), one side CV (7 of 25), and one side FL (2 of 16) in the marmoset. The total number of taste buds increased with increasing age, reached a maximum at two months of age: FF, 1069; SP, 609; CV-center, 530; CV-side, 390; FL, 201, and decreased thereafter in the marmoset. These results suggest that the maturation of SP taste buds precedes to that of taste buds in other areas of the tongue and plays important roles in the processing of gustatory information durine oreweanline mammals.