Wolverine, as all of you may know, is a fictional character from the
comic book X-men who is renowned for his retractable claws and his ability to
heal at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, in the real world, the retractable claws
are only found in cats, and does not exist within humans. However, the quick
healing process can be found in your very own oral cavity.
The tissues found in the oral cavity has a higher activity for healing wounds
with less scarring than other areas of the human body (Dijk et al., 2015). Saliva
produced by several exocrine glands in the mouth is the key element involved in
the quick healing process (Dijk et al., 2015). There are several roles that
saliva participates in, and the most recognized roles include to serve as a
lubricant allowing food to be passed down easily and to aid in digesting food (contain
enzymes) such as carbohydrates. While saliva is valuable for digestion, latest
studies have demonstrated that saliva contains wound healing properties enhancing
the healing mechanism in the oral cavity. A recent study has concluded
histatin-1 peptide found in saliva promotes or accelerates wound healing (Torres
et al., 2017).
Past studies have shown the impact of histatin-1 on migration in vitro, but the most recent study by
Torres et al. (2017) supported previous conclusions as well as found additional
conclusions regarding the participation of histatin-1 in wound healing. Histatin-1
is an anti-microbial peptide loaded with the amino acid histidine, as the name implies,
and the peptide promotes endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and angiogenesis
(new blood vessels formation), which are essential for the process of healing (Torres
et al., 2017). With this in mind, the wound inside your mouth is able to close
and heal much more quickly and efficiently than the other areas of your body.
For the future, we can expect this molecule to be used for therapeutic
advances such as developing new medications and applying it to dentistry.
Dental materials such as implants would greatly benefit from this molecule as patient’s
healing time would shorten, and the risk of infection would be reduced. Relating
this back to wolverine: although his wounds heal quicker than normal as is, do
you think his wounds would heal lightning quick if he licked his wounds?
References:
Torres, P.T., Diaz, J., Arce, M., Silva, P., Mendoza, P., Lois, P.,
Molina-Berrios, A., Owen, G.I., Palma, V., & Torres, V.A. (2017). The
salivary peptide histatin-1 promotes endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and
angiogenesis. The FASEB Journal. 31(11) 4946-4958.
Dijk, I.A., Nazmi, K., Bolscher, J.M., Veerman, E.C. & Stap, J.
(2015). Histatin-1, a histidine-rich peptide in human saliva, promotes
cell-substrate and cell-cell adhesion. FASEB Journal. 29 (8). 3124-3132.
Based on the article: http://www.dentistrytoday.com/news/industrynews/item/2264-salivary-peptide-promotes-wound-healing
I've always wanted to be wolverine and have super healing powers and now I know I that I do. To answer your question, I feel that if wolverine licked his wounds, he would heal much quicker. According to Brand, Ligtenberg, and Veerman, (2014), saliva creates a humid environment that helps the oral cavity improve survival and aid in the function of inflammatory cells that are needed for wound healing. It will be interesting to see if they can use histatin as a medication for wound healing in other parts of the body. This would be important for people who are in the frontline such as military, police officers, and other first responders that would be at more risks for wounds. The question that I would have if this came to light would be, if there is a risk of causing an inflammatory response if a different subject's saliva is used along with histatin to promote wound healing?
ReplyDeleteGreat post, especially when it comes to Wolverine.
Brand, H. S., Ligtenberg, A. M., & Veerman, E. I. (2014). Saliva and wound healing. Monographs In Oral Science, 2452-60. doi:10.1159/000358784