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The rheological properties of saliva

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Summary

Saliva is a complex biological fluid that cannot be effectively studied by conventional methods such as theFerranti-Shirley Viscometer. Testing with theWeissenberg Rheogoniometer shows that saliva is viscoelastic and that the dynamic viscosity falls from 400-0.1 Poise over the frequency range 2.5×10−3 to 10 Hertz. The calculated elastic contribution can be correlated with dry weight content.

Dynamic viscosity and shear modulus are both reduced in storage, by proteolytic enzymes. The mucolytic agent Ascoxal also brings about a reduction in these parameters but by a different mechanism. A comparison of the results with those obtained previously for sputum, shows, that saliva may be a suitable model system for assessing mucolytic agentsin vitro.

Zusammenfassung

Speichel ist eine komplexe biologische Flüssigkeit, die mit konventionellen Methoden, wie z. B. demFerranti-Shirley-Viskosimeter, nicht umfassend untersucht werden kann. Studien mit einemWeissenberg-Rheogoniometer zeigen, daß Speichel viskoelastisch ist und daß seine dynamische Viskosität über einen Frequenzbereich von 2,5 · 10−3 bis 10 Hz von 400 Poise auf 0,1 Poise fällt. Die berechnete elastische Komponente kann mit dem Trockengewichtsanteil korreliert werden.

Dynamische Viskosität und Schermodul werden gemeinsam bei Lagerung von proteolytischen Enzymen reduziert. Das mukolytisch aktive Ascoxal reduziert auf andere Art ebenfalls diese Parameter. Ein Vergleich dieser Ergebnisse mit denen, die für Sputum erhalten werden, zeigt, daß Speichel ein günstiges Modellsystem ist, um mukolytisch aktive Stoffe in vitro zu testen.

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Author notes

  1. S. S. Davis

    Present address: Pharmacy Department, University of Astor in Birmingham, Birmingham, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The pharmaceutics Department, School of Pharmacy, University of London, England

    S. S. Davis

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  1. S. S. Davis
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Additional information

Paper presented to the British Society of Rheology Conference on Rheology in Medicine and Pharmacy, London, April 14–15, 1970.

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Davis, S.S. The rheological properties of saliva. Rheol Acta 10, 28–35 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01972473

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01972473

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