Novel treatment for thirst

口渴是饮用液体的主要驱动力，而液体是维持全身动态平衡所必需的。虽然脱水引起口渴的机制是众所周知的，但关于健康的、通常水分充足的人的口渴知觉的数据相对较少。特别是，对口渴的感觉是如何在口腔中产生的理解在很大程度上是未知的。根据我们对口腔粘膜膜的特征-口腔粘膜上的一层黏附的唾液粘蛋白，维持口腔的正常水化感觉，我们最近的数据表明，粘膜膜中有钠的积累。我们认为，钠的积累影响了粘蛋白的润滑行为，使它们变得更粘性，然后变得粘稠，我们认为这是一种口干/口渴。由于唾液中的钠含量很低(约10-50 mm)，所以即使在正常的受试者中，也会周期性地发生口渴，因此在休息时钠的积累会以稳定的速度发生。我们对接受透析的患者的初步研究表明，由于唾液中钠的水平较高，这种钠的积累更快，并导致这一群体中感觉到的持续口渴。该项目将进一步探索粘液层中钠的积累如何影响粘蛋白流变学/摩擦学，从而影响口干/口渴的感觉。工业伙伴的作用是提供含有钠螯合剂的口香糖，以去除粘液层中的钠。

Thirst is a major driver for drinking fluids which are essential to maintaining whole body homeostasis. Although the mechanisms for dehydration-induced thirst are well known and understood, there is relatively little data concerning thirst perception in healthy, normally hydrated, individuals. In particular, an understanding of how the perception of thirst is created in the mouth is largely unknown. Building on our characterisation of the oral mucosal pellicle- an adhered layer of salivary mucins on the oral mucosa, which maintains the normal hydrated feeling of the mouth, our recent data suggests there is an accumulation of sodium within the mucosal pellicle. We propose that accumulation of sodium affects the lubrication behaviour of the mucins so that they become more viscous and then sticky which we perceive as a dry mouth/ thirst. This accumulation of sodium occurs at a steady rate at rest as saliva has low amounts of sodium (around 10 - 50 mM) so that thirst occurs periodically even in normal hydrated subjects. Our preliminary study in patients undergoing dialysis indicated this accumulation of sodium is faster due to higher salivary levels of sodium and leads to the constant thirst perceived in this group. This project will further explore how the accumulation of sodium in the mucus layer affects mucin rheology/ tribology and thus perception of dry mouth/thirst. The role of the industrial partner is to supply chewing gums containing sodium chelators to remove sodium from the mucus layer.