SALIVA SINGULAR MOLECULE DOES HEAL. WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW?

Why is it that a cut on your finger seems to last for days, but a cut in your mouth is usually healed by morning? There are a lot of factors at play, but 2017 research led by curosity team found one intriguing answer that could benefit more than just your mouth: there's a molecule in your saliva that can help grow new cells.

SCIENTIFIC SPIT TAKE

Scientists already knew that saliva contains a peptide called histatin-1 that fights off bacteria and aids in wound healing. For a 2017 study published in the FASEB Journal, Chilean researchers set out to discover exactly how the little molecule helped heal wounds. In a series of experiments, they added histatin-1 to chicken embryo cells and several types of human blood-vessel cells, and watched what happened.

There are many steps that have to happen for a wound to heal. New skin cells have to form and migrate from the wound's edges little by little to cover the whole thing like a Band-Aid. Active cells called fibroblasts move in, too, helping to produce collagen, elastin, and other proteins that the new skin will need. The body also starts regrowing blood vessels, which boosts blood flow to the wound and makes it heal even faster.

It turns out that histatin-1 does all of that. Not only does it make new skin cells migrate and attach themselves to the wound, but it actually helps to grow new blood vessels.

SHOULD YOU KISS AND MAKE IT BETTER

So if saliva heals wounds, should you lick yours? Probably not. For one thing, your mouth is full of germs: some estimates say there are 650 different species of bacteria in there. You're better off using established methods: clean the wound with a mild solution, and keep it covered with a bandage. (Kissing boo-boos isn't any better, by the way. Don't take our word for it; take it from a 2016 study entitled, we kid you not, "Maternal kisses are not effective in alleviating minor childhood injuries (boo-boos): a randomized, controlled and blinded study.")

No, the most important thing to come from this research into saliva's healing powers is in the world of biotechnology. The Chilean researchers hope to use histatin-1 molecules to create new materials and implants that could help speed up wound healing. "The clear results of the present study open a wide door to a therapeutic advance," FASEB Journal editor in chief Thoru Pederson, Ph.D. said.