Salivary Gland Organ Regeneration for Oral Health

Salivary glands play essential roles in normal upper gastrointestinal tract function and oral health via saliva production. There are three types of salivary glands; the submandibular gland and parotid gland, which secrete serous saliva, and the sublingual gland secretes mucous saliva in mice [1]. Therefore, salivary gland dysfunction due to atrophy of acinar cells caused by Sjogren’s syndrome, radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, and aging and saliva reduction, and results in xerostomia (dry mouth syndrome), causes various clinical problems in oral health and influences overall bodily health [2]. Xerostomia induces various clinical problems in oral health, such as dental decay, bacterial infection, and disorders of mastication and swallowing, which result in a general reduction in the quality of life [3]. Current standard to cure xerostomia are symptomatic treatments, such as the administration of artificial saliva substitutes and sialogogues, and the administration of parasympathetic stimulation drugs, including pilocarpine and cevimeline [4]. In salivary gland regenerative therapy, stem cell transplantation, which expressed c-kit and Sca-1 as stem cell markers and exhibit