Scientists have identified a compound in human saliva that speeds up wound healing. This gives hope to people with chronic wounds, such as people with diabetes, as well as wounds from injuries and burns. Fortunately it can be produced in large amounts, so it could be made into antibacterial creams.
"We hope this will be useful for people with wounds that don't heal, such as foot ulcers and diabetic ulcers, as well as burns," says Dr Menno Oudhoff.
The scientists found that histatin, a small protein in saliva previously known only for killing bacteria, is responsible for wound healing. They grew cells from the inside of the cheek in lab dishes until they covered the surface, then made an artificial wound by scratching the cell layer. One dish was rinsed with a plain salt solution, the others with human saliva. After 16 hours, the saliva had closed the wound completely, while in the untreated dish most of the wound was still open.
This proved that saliva contains a factor that speeds up wound closure in mouth cells. As saliva is a complex fluid, the next step was to separate its components and test each one; in the end, histatin turned out to be responsible.
The study not only answers the biological question of why animals lick their wounds, but also explains why wounds in the mouth, such as after a tooth extraction, heal faster than wounds in skin or bone. It also shows that saliva could be a source of new medicines.
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