Abstract
Sichuan pepper is a plant belonging to the genus Zanthoxylum and family rue. To evaluate whether Sichuan pepper oil boosts saliva secretion using an encapsulated food product containing the oil in subjects presenting with mouth dryness. We evaluated subjective symptoms that changed with a decrease in salivary secretion in the subjects by evaluating the number of Candida colonies and by conducting interviews. The study results demonstrated that salivary secretion increased by 39.4% ± 37.6% after single ingestion of the product, and an additional 8.7% ± 13.2% and 6.3% ± 31.2% following continuous ingestion over 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. These findings suggested that the product rapidly promotes and maintains salivation. Regarding the proliferation of Candida colonies in subjects with mouth dryness, a negative correlation was observed between Candida colony number and salivary secretion quantity. Additionally, interviews revealed that subjective symptoms, such as mouth dryness, discomfort and pain in the mouth, difficulty swallowing the saliva, and feeling of stickiness in the mouth, improved shortly after single ingestion of the product, and mouth dryness was reduced by continuous consumption of the product. These findings indicated that the product studied promotes rapid salivary secretion, is effective in reducing the number of oral Candida colonies, and improves subjective symptoms such as mouth dryness.
Highlights
Mouth dryness is characterized by abnormal dryness in the mouth and throat due to reduced salivary secretion and changed saliva quality
The results showed that the oil‐soluble fraction extracted from Sichuan pepper (Sichuan pepper oil) has a very strong salivation effect
For examining the usefulness of the product, we evaluated subjective symptoms based on the level of saliva secretion, number of oral Candida colonies, and responses in interviews
Summary
This study was implemented after obtaining approval of the ethical review committee of Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine (date: 27 May 2014) and complied with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki. The investigator interviewed each subject regarding subjective symptoms and evaluated the severity of the symptoms on a five‐grade scale before ingestion, after single ingestion, and after 2 and 4 weeks of continuous ingestion. Interview: before ingestion, after single ingestion, and after 2 and 4 weeks of continuous ingestion 1 Drying of the mouth 2 Pain and discomfort in the mouth 3 Feeling of insufficient salivary secretion 4 Difficulty swallowing saliva 5 Feeling of stickiness in the mouth 6 Saliva without appear sustainably 7 Feeling of stimulation in the mouth 8 Pain in the tongue 9 Difficulty conversing. When evaluating subjective symptoms after single ingestion, an improvement was observed in seven of the nine conditions (77.8%), including mouth dryness, pain and discomfort in the mouth, difficulty in swallowing saliva, feeling of stickiness in the mouth, sustained feeling of salivary the severity of oral symptoms after single ingestion.
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