2000 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 55-63
Several biological peptides have been tested to develop new and powerful sialogogues for people with xerostomia and hyposalivation.Tachykinins have been found to elicit secretions from the salivary glands.Of these, physalaemin was determined to be the most potent.I hoped to determine if there are any new, powerful, sialogogic peptides or traditional Chinese medicines for the promotion of salivation.Several new peptides have been synthesized by the multipin method to elucidate the relation of structure and sialogogic activity of these tachykinins.I found that in physalaemin, the optimal amino acid positions were 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, and that an amide group in the C-terminal end was essential to promote salivation.In contrast, sialogogic activity has characteristically been inhibited by amino acids in positions 1, 2, 5 and 6.Therefore, more powerful sialogogues can be developed if amino acids in positions 1, 2, 5 and 6 are replaced by amino acids in tachykinins, as replacement of the amino acid in position 6 clearly indicated.I also found that traditional Chinese medicines may aid the new peptides.Further study is needed before these new peptides can be used to correct hyposalivation in humans.
