Herbal Medicine Treatment for Xerostomia in Elderly Patients and Salivary Gland Regeneration Research

Xerostomia often occurs in elderly patients due to Sjogren’s syndrome, sialadenitis, IgG4-related disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and side-effects from certain medications. It is defined as a disturbance in saliva secretion, which can be triggered by radiation therapy and causes many oral and dental problems. Therefore, it is necessary to ameliorate oral symptoms and regenerate salivary glands in patients with these diseases. To relieve xerostomia and stomatitis, herbal medicines such as Japanese traditional medicine (Kampo) are often applied. Kampo therapy is effective for dry mouth symptoms. However, the salivary gland is complex and it is difficult to regenerate the salivary gland through clinical treatment. Byakkokaninjinto and Goreisan are often used as Kampo therapy for xerostomia through regulation of aquaporins. To investigate salivary gland regeneration after inflammation and atrophy, ductligation animal models were used in our previous studies. This model revealed that cytoskeletal changes and the distributions of small Rho GTPases, fibroblast growth factors, and β-catenin have important roles in cell proliferation and differentiation during submandibular gland regeneration.