The abundant glands situated in the lamina propria of the human anterior middle nasal turbinate were
complex tubules that consist of serous, seromucous, and mucous cells, either singly or in combination.
Serous granules were homogeneously dense, but could have a small lighter core. Seromucous granules had a
dense rim and a large compartment of appreciably lighter density. Gradation between serous and
seromucous granules made precise identification of these secretory cell types difficult. Mucous cells were of
conventional morphology. The secretory tubules, which possessed a complement of myoepithelial cells,
gradually transformed into ducts or the changeover was relatively sudden. The ductular portions of the
tubules consisted either of tall prismatic cells or of shorter columnar cells, both of which lacked secretory
granules, but had many mitochondria in their supranuclear cytoplasm. In many cases the ducts, for most of
their length, consisted of secretory cells. These glands clearly participate in the elaboration of the
glycoconjugate coat that serves to protect the nasal mucosa and keeps it from drying out.
