By licking a wound it heals faster -- this is not simply popular belief, but scientifically proven. Our saliva consists of water and mucus, among other things, and the mucus plays an important role. It stimulates white blood cells to build a good defense against invaders, according to a group of researchers at Lund University in Sweden together with colleagues from Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark.
"White blood cells are among other places located in the oral mucosa, and they represent the body's first line of defence against infectious agents. The mucus in the mouth causes the white blood cells to throw out a 'net' that traps bacteria", explains Ole Sørensen from the Division of Infection Medicine.
By licking a wound it heals faster -- this is not simply popular belief, but scientifically proven. Our saliva consists of water and mucus, among other things, and the mucus plays an important role. It stimulates white blood cells to build a good defense against invaders, according to a group of researchers at Lund University in Sweden together with colleagues from Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark.
"White blood cells are among other places located in the oral mucosa, and they represent the body's first line of defence against infectious agents. The mucus in the mouth causes the white blood cells to throw out a 'net' that traps bacteria", explains Ole Sørensen from the Division of Infection Medicine.
This trapping mechanism is in itself not new - it was first discovered about a decade ago. But the Lund research group now shows that the nets in the oral mucosa specifically, have special properties. These nets are much better at capturing and killing bacteria than the nets produced by white blood cells in other parts of the body.
"It appears to be precisely the mucus in the saliva that stimulates white blood cells to form these effective nets of DNA and proteins", says Ole Sørensen.
Woman licking finger wound courtesy Saliva Facts.
Read more at EurekAlert.
