Measurement of carbonic anhydrase isozyme VI (CA-VI) in bovine sera, saliva, milk and tissues.

Concentrations of bovine carbonic anhydrase isozyme VI (CA-IV) in bovine serum, saliva, normal milk, colostrum, submandibular gland, liver, and mammary gland were determined. CA-VI was purified from bovine saliva and an antibody to CA-VI was generated. The concentrations of CA-VI in the saliva (7.8 +/- 7.9 microg/ml), serum (2.1+/- 5.7 ng/ml), milk (7.9 +/- 12.1 ng/ml), submandibular gland (284.7 microg/g protein), liver (921.0 +/- 180.7 ng/g protein) and mammary gland (399.6 +/- 191.2 ng/g protein) were determined by ELISA. No seasonal change in CA-VI levels was observed in normal milk. The concentration of CA-VI in colostrum (day 1 post partum) was 119 ng/ml and decreased rapidly by 1 month following birth. Mammary gland contained much smaller amounts than the submandibular gland. CA-VI mRNA was detected in the liver and mammary gland of cow by RT-PCR. The ELISA used in this study proved to be a precise and sensitive method for determining CA-VI concentrations in saliva, serum, milk and tissue specimens from cows. The ELISA may enable the study of changes in CA-VI associated with hereditary or metabolic disorders of the salivary gland, mammary gland and liver using small samples of saliva, serum or milk.

The membranous bulge lingual to the mandibular molar tooth of a cat contains a small salivary gland.

The membranous bulge lingual to the mandibular molar tooth was examined microscopically in 12 cats and found to contain a small mixed salivary gland. Approximate size of the gland was 1.0-1.5 mm bucco-lingually, 3.0-3.5 mm mesio-distally and 3.0 mm of depth at the largest part. This gland is a tubuloacinar gland with multiple small openings through several short ducts to the surface of the lingual membrane. Mucous acini were predominant with a few serous demilunes.

Histological structure and distribution of carbonic anhydrase isozymes (CA-I, II, III and VI) in major salivary glands in koalas.

While the mandibular glands usually consist of only mucous acinar cells or a combination of mucous and serous cells in other species of mammals, those of koalas were serous glands. Rabbit mono-specific polyclonal anti-canine CA-I, II, III or VI antiserum showed cross-reactivity against corresponding koala carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes. Although immunohistochemical reactions to CA-I, II and VI in ductal cells were moderate to strong in the tested salivary glands, no reaction or only slight reactions were observed against CA-III. In the sublingual glands, moderate immunohistochemical reactions to CA-I, II and VI were also evident in serous acinar cells and serous demilunes. However, no reactions to the tested isozymes were observed in mucous acinar cells in these glands. With the exception of the histological structure of the mandibular glands, histological features and the distributional profile of CA isozymes of the salivary glands in koalas are relatively close to results obtained from horses.