Lymphatic architecture of the oral region

- beneath the buccal mucosa -

Abstract

The detailed lymphatic architecture in various organs is relatively unknown. In this paper, we report the lymphatic architecture beneath the buccal mucosa, which is classified as a lining mucosa like that of the inferior surface of the tongue, using enzyme histochemical staining and serial section 3D reconstruction by computer graphics. As a result, the lymphatic network beneath the buccal mucosa at the molar part formed a fixed flow to the collecting lymphatics on the muscle layer. In other words, this network was formed like a network of rivers in which the lymph constantly flowed from narrow into wider lymphatic vessels without stagnation. The shape of the blind ends from the lymphatic network beneath the buccal mucosa resembled a glomerulus. This means that the absorption efficiency of the glomerular blind ends of the lymphatic vessels is higher than that of the simple loop blind end in the tongue. [MVRC 1(1): 9-11, 2007]