Salivary gland mini-organs grown from pluripotent stem cells offer potential path to treating severe dry mouth
University at Buffalo researchers are developing salivary gland organoids from human pluripotent stem cells to treat chronic dry mouth caused by cancer radiation or autoimmune diseases. This regenerative medicine approach aims to provide a functional implantable solution where traditional stimulation methods have failed.
Why it matters
This research offers a potential breakthrough for patients suffering from severe xerostomia, a condition that significantly degrades quality of life and currently lacks effective long-term treatments.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Salivary gland organoids, derived from pluripotent stem cells, hold promise for studying salivary gland development, disease progression, and drug screening. Credit: University at Buffalo Extreme dry mouth, caused by radiation used to treat cancer and by autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren's disease, radically affects quality of life for sufferers. It can hamper speaking, swallowing and eating, and for years has seemed an intractable problem.
Attempts to stimulate the salivary glands to produce more saliva or to create artificial saliva have been ineffective.
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