A gel that is normally used to smooth wrinkles out of face can also help millions of people suffering with a chronic dry mouth.
The gel – hyaluronic acid – is a fish choice fabric that occurs naturally in the body, helps to lubricate joints, keep the skin moist and prevent the eyes from drying out. In recent years, humans made versions of the jelly-like material have become a popular cosmetic treatment among those looking for younger-looking skin-value it looks chubby and ugly lines spell.
Now a team of scientists has discovered that synthetic hyaluronic acid is also the perfect environment for growing the cells that release saliva in our mouth. It is the first time that these fully functioning cells such as these have been grown outside the body and it is hoped that the breakthrough, reported in the International Journal of Oral Science, will lead to a new treatment of laboratory cells that can be transplanted in the mouth of patients who suffer persistent dry mouth last month.
The average healthy adult produces every day to two liters of saliva, which most people take without notice.
But up to ten million people in the UK suffer from a dry mouth – known as Xerostomia – when salivary glands do not produce enough saliva under the tongue and around the jaw.
This is often temporary, but for some people a dry mouth can become a chronic condition that seriously influences their quality of life.
Causes vary from nose infections and diabetes to certain drugs (including decongestiva) and simply not drink enough liquids, because 99 percent of the saliva are water.
Studies have also shown that salivary gland cells become less efficient as we get older and no longer produce saliva and enzymes.
It is hoped that the breakthrough will lead to a new treatment of laboratory cells that can be transplanted into the mouth of patients suffering persistent dry mouth
Patients who have undergone radiotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer, who can permanently damage the glands, are often the most affected. Up to 90 percent of them develop permanent damage to the salivary glands and a dry mouth.
Current treatments for a dry mouth vary from freely available sprays and pastilles that stimulate saliva production, to artificial saliva masters only available on prescription.
But in patients whose salivary glands have been damaged or destroyed, there is little that doctors can offer for effective symptom lighting.
The hope is that the use of hyaluronic acid to grow new salivary gland cells and then transplant them in the mouth can be a better solution – in almost the same way as the skin is grafted on wounds or burns to stimulate healing.
Researchers from McGill University in Canada took a small number of human acinary cells – which produce saliva – and placed them in a hyaluronic acid gel in a petri dish.
Within a week the cells started to form in large round clusters that mimic the appearance of human salivary glands.
After two weeks, the cells were still replicating and were metabolic active – for example, producing all the proteins they needed to stay alive and to stimulate the secretion of saliva.
The cells also produced the digestive enzyme alpha-amylase, which is important for stimulating the production of saliva.
Earlier attempts to grow these acinary cells in the lab have had little success because they do not thrive on the type of ‘scaffolding’ that are normally used to bent tissue – such as collagen. The composition of salivary glands is also complex, with many specialized cells that are difficult to replicate and grow.
Simon Tran, a dentistry professor at the University of McGill, who led the research, said it was “an important step forward.”
‘This study shows that by refinement [hyaluronic acid] Gel composition, we can accurately replicate the native environment of salivaacinar cells.
“These manipulated saliva cells may be delivered directly into the patient’s damaged salivary gland via injection, and worn just like a transplant to restore the function.”
But he emphasized that it is not yet clear whether a one -off injection would suffice, or that repeated treatments may be needed to maintain healthy saliva production.
In commentary on the findings, Austen Smith, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Sheffield and Barnsley NHS Foundation Trusts, that the new study is a ‘valuable switch to help heal damaged tissue to its maximum potential’.
And Caroline Geraghty, a specialist information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said: “It would be a real breakthrough if people can regain the full position in their own salivary glands one day, so that they do not have to trust temporary solutions.”
But she warned that larger human tests are needed to see if the gel jabs are safe and effective.
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