Abstract:
Xerostomia is the phenomenon of dry mouth and is mostly caused by hypofunction of the salivary glands. This hypofunction can be caused by tumors, head and neck irradiation, hormonal changes, inflammation or autoimmune disease such as Sjögren\'s syndrome. It is associated with a tremendous decrease in health-related quality of life due to impairment of articulation, ingestion and oral immune defenses. Current treatment concepts mainly consist of saliva substitutes and parasympathomimetic drugs, but the outcome of these therapies is deficient. Regenerative medicine is a promising approach for the treatment of compromised tissue. For this purpose, stem cells can be utilized due to their ability to differentiate into various cell types. Dental pulp stem cells are adult stem cells that can be easily harvested from extracted teeth. They can form tissues of all three germ layers and are therefore becoming more and more popular for tissue engineering. Another potential benefit of these cells is their immunomodulatory effect. They suppress proinflammatory pathways of lymphocytes and could therefore probably be used for the treatment of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease. These attributes make dental pulp stem cells an interesting tool for the regeneration of salivary glands and the treatment of xerostomia. Nevertheless, clinical studies are still missing. This review will highlight the current strategies for using dental pulp stem cells in the regeneration of salivary gland tissue.
摘要:
口干症是口干的现象,主要是由唾液腺功能减退引起的。这种功能减退可能是由肿瘤引起的,头颈部照射,荷尔蒙的变化,炎症或自身免疫性疾病,如干燥综合征。由于关节受损,它与健康相关的生活质量急剧下降有关,摄入和口服免疫防御。目前的治疗概念主要包括唾液替代品和拟副交感神经药物,但是这些疗法的结果是有缺陷的。再生医学是治疗受损组织的有希望的方法。为此,干细胞由于其分化成各种细胞类型的能力而可被利用。牙髓干细胞是成人干细胞,可以很容易地从拔牙中收获。它们可以形成所有三个胚层的组织,因此在组织工程中越来越受欢迎。这些细胞的另一个潜在益处是它们的免疫调节作用。它们抑制淋巴细胞的促炎途径,因此可能用于治疗慢性炎症和自身免疫性疾病。这些属性使牙髓干细胞成为唾液腺再生和口干症治疗的有趣工具。然而,临床研究仍然缺失。这篇综述将重点介绍目前在唾液腺组织再生中使用牙髓干细胞的策略。