Bad breath could be beneficial after all with a new study published in the Journal of Breath Research suggesting that the compound responsible for bad breath could be used to speed up the development of stem cells in dental pulp.
Researchers led by Dr Ken Yaegaki, from Nippon Dental University in Japan, found that hydrogen sulphide (H2S) speeds up the development of teeth stem cells into liver cells. The researchers tested the effect of H2S by collecting stem cells from the dental pulp from teeth obtained from patients who underwent tooth extractions.
The researchers then divided the stem cells collected into two groups. The first group was incubated in a H2S chamber while the second was used as a control group. The researchers found that stem cells that were incubated in the H2S chamber developed into liver cells faster than those in the control group.
Dr Yaegaki said that not only did the cells develop sooner but they were also of high purity. "Until now, nobody has produced the protocol to regenerate such a huge number of hepatic cells for human transplantation. Compared to the traditional method of using fetal bovine serum to produce the cells, our method is productive and, most importantly, safe", Dr Yaegaki said.
Source: Medindia
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