Intra-epithelial lipids in the dorsoposterior area of the tongue in new-born rats

The mucosa covering the posterior surface of the tongue in new-born rats was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that in the first days of extra-uterine life in the epithelium of this mucosa there is an accumulation of lipidic material, which appeared as round or oval droplets with a mean diameter of about 0.8-1.0 microm. Their density was homogeneously low and they did not contain fibrillar or granular material. In the first day of extra-uterine life, the droplets were scarce and mainly localized in the dorsal surface of the vallate papilla. In the following days, the lipid deposit was present in large areas of the posterior surface of the tongue. At the end of the first week of extra-uterine life, as well as in adult animals, the lipids were rather scarce. A multilocular lipid deposit was also visible in superficial cells detaching from the mucosa. With magnetic resonance spectroscopy, lipids extracted from the posterior mucosa of the tongue appeared mainly saturated. Small amounts of unsaturated and polyunsaturated lipid were also detectable. These findings suggest that in the first week of extra-uterine life, specialized areas of the oral epithelium store lipid.