Alveolar_gland

Alveolar gland

Alveolar gland

Add article description

Alveolar glands, also called saccular glands, are glands with a saclike secretory portion, in contrast with tubular glands. They typically have an enlarged lumen (cavity), hence the name: they have a shape similar to alveoli, the very small air sacs in the lungs.

Quick Facts Identifiers, TH ...
Look up alveolar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Look up tubuloalveolar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Some sources draw a clear distinction between acinar and alveolar glands, based upon the size of the lumen.[1] A further complication in the case of the alveolar glands may occur in the form of still smaller saccular diverticuli growing out from the main sacculi.

The term "racemose gland"[2] is used to describe a "compound alveolar gland" or "compound acinar gland."[3]

Branched alveolar glands are classified as follows:

More information Type, Description ...


Additional images

  • Alveoli of lacrimal gland.
  • Human submaxillary gland. At the right is a group of mucous alveoli, at the left a group of serous alveoli.
  • Section of portion of breast tissue.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Classification of Exocrine Glands
  2. [2]
    Racemose+gland Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine at eMedicine Dictionary
  3. [3]
    SIU SOM Histology GI
  4. [4]
    Histology at KUMC glands-glands17
  5. [5]
    Histology at KUMC glands-glands14 "Compound Tubulo- Alveolar"
  6. [6]
    MedEd at Loyola histo/practical/epithelium/hp1-28.doc


Stub icon

This anatomy article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Alveolar_gland, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.