Increased numbers of mast cells in the hyperplastic buccal mucosa of the zinc‐deficient rat

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Abstract
Six weanling male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a diet containing 0.4 ppm Zn and 7 were fed an identical diet except for 40 ppm Zn. After 4 wk, specimens of buccal mucosa in the region facing the molar teeth were removed. Paraffin sections, cut at 6 .mu.m, were stained with toluidine blue and tracings made of 5 sections/animal, spaced no less than 60 .mu.m apart. Counts of mast cells over a measured length of section were made in a superficial zone of the lamina propria of 50 .mu.m width and a deeper zone of 250 .mu.m width. The average number of mast cells/mm in the subepithelial zone of the experimental animals was 15.4, the range 9.2-33.1. The control average was 4.0; the range was 2.9-5.3. No increase was found in the deeper zone. The epithelium was parakeratotic and its thickness was increased 2-fold. In the peripheral portion of the section, cellular and keratin layers were evenly increased in thickness, but in the central portion a disproportionate, nearly 4-fold increase occurred in the keratin layer and a lesser increase in the cellular layer.

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