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Epithelial-connective tissue boundary in the oral part of the human soft palate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1998

FRIEDRICH PAULSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany
ANDREAS THALE
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany Department of Ophthalmology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany
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Abstract

The papillary layer of the oral part of the human soft palate was studied in 31 subjects of different age by means of histological, immunohistochemical and scanning electron microscopical methods. For scanning electron microscopy a new maceration method was introduced. Results determine epithelial thickness, height and density of connective tissue papillae and their 3-dimensional architecture inside the lining epithelium as well as the collagenous arrangement of the openings of the glandular ducts. The individual connective tissue papillae of the soft palate are compared with the connective tissue boundary on the other side of the oral cavity. The connective tissue plateaux carrying a variable number of connective tissue papillae were found to be the basic structural units of the papillary body. The function of the epithelial-connective tissue interface and the extracellular matrix arrangement in the lamina propria are discussed in order to promote the comparability of normal with pathologically altered human soft palates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

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