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Vascular anatomy and tissue osmolality in the filiform and fungiform papillae of the cat's tongue.

The vascular anatomy of the filiform and fungiform papillae of the feline tongue was studied by i.a. injection of India ink. Vascular loops of various appearances were found in the types of papillae studied, i.e. the large and the small filiform papillae and the fungiform ones. Such hairpin loops may function as countercurrent exchangers and to test this hypothesis tissue osmolality was determined in the papillae, while exposing them to various isotonic electrolyte solutions. The large filiform papillae with a vascular arrangement similar to that of intestinal villi exhibited a marked osmolar gradient from tip to base when exposed to a solution containing both glucose and sodium. If sodium and/or glucose was excluded from the solution, tissue osmolality was significantly decreased. This was also the case when the chloride ions of the solution was substituted with sulphate. The small filiform papillae are only provided with one or a few capillary loops. They exhibited a less marked osmolar gradient than the large ones and one of the different electrolyte solutions decreased the gradient. In the fungiform papillae a tissue hyperosmolality at the tip was also demonstrated. It is proposed that the papillary epithelium is provided with active transport mechanism(s) and that the papillary vessels function as countercurrent multipliers. The functional importance of these mechanisms are tentatively discussed.