Salivary glucose concentration ranges between 25 to 100 mM in human subjects. A higher salivary glucose concentration prevails in diabetic patients than in non-diabetics. When an oral glucose tolerance test was conducted in normal subjects and diabetic patients, we observed a similar time course for salivary glucose and glycemia: the glucose concentration in unstimulated saliva progressively increased during the first 30 min and decreased thereafter. Salivary glucose is excreted by salivary glands. This study aims at investigating mechanisms for glucose secretion by salivary glands. In the literature, only the presence of SGLT1 has been so far shown at the baso-lateral membrane of parotid acinar cells in rats. We investigated the expression and localization of different glucose transporters in parotid gland from healthy rats and from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Immunochemistry was used to localize SGLT1, GLUT1, GLUT2 and GLUT4. SGLT1, as well as GLUT1 and GLUT4, were observed in acinar cells of rat parotid glands. Their mRNA expression was confirmed by quantitative-PCR. GLUT4 mRNA level was significantly lower in the parotid cells of streptozotocin-induced diabetic as compared to normal rats. However, such a difference was not observed for SGLT1 and GLUT1 mRNA. By analogy with the kidney, we postulate the presence of SGLT1 in the baso-lateral membrane of acinar cells and the presence of GLUT4 and/or GLUT1 in the apical membrane. Further experiments are required to assess the validity of this proposal by co-localization immunohistochemistry.