Posted on 24-07-2008 under , , , , ,

Yes, apparently.

A group of English scientists have found that a small protein in saliva (known as histatin) which was  only believed to kill bacteria, can also be responsible for the healing of various human tissues.

To come to this conclusion, the scientists used the cells that line the inner cheek (epithelial cells). They grew these cells in dishes until the surfaces were completely covered. Then they made an artificial wound and inserted it into each dish.

In one dish, cells were bathed in an control liquid without any other special biological human elements. In the other dish, cells were bathed in human saliva. After 16 hours the scientists noticed that the saliva treated artificial wound was almost completely closed. In the dish with the untreated wound, a substantial part of the wound was still open. This proved that human saliva contains a factor which accelerates wound closure of oral cells.

Because saliva is a complex liquid with many components, the next step was to identify which component was responsible for wound healing. Using various techniques the researchers split the saliva into its individual components, tested each in their wound model, and finally determined that histatin was responsible.