Effect of Sialoadenectomy on Weight Gain and Body Composition of Albino Rats

¹ Emory University School of Dentistry, Atlanta, Georgia

Sialoadenectomized albino rats and their sham-operated littermates were fed identical amounts of food by stomach tube for 60 days. The average weight gain of the sialoadenectomized animals was 19 gm. less than that of their sham-operated controls. Percentagewise, there was no significant difference in the water, protein, fat, ash, calcium, and phosphorus content of the carcasses of the two groups. In absolute terms, the difference in weight between the test and control groups was accounted for, in the most part, by a considerably smaller amount of water and fat in the carcasses of the sialoadenectomized animals. There was no significant difference in the caloric value of the total fecal output of the test and control animals. From these results it is concluded that the lesser weight gain of the sialoadenectomized animals was not due to an impairment in digestion or absorption.