Comments on: Painkiller in saliva

By: Isabel

Isabel — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:50:52 +0000

Here is an idea that could answer, “I’m curious though, if spit has this potent painkiller why does it hurt so much when you accidentally bite your tongue?” When you accidentally bite your tongue, of course it would hurt because there are nerves there as well as everywhere else. Although, you would notice that as soon as any part of the interior of your mouth gets hurt, saliva with a weird “ting” to it builds up under your tongue. Believe it or not, if you were to put some of that saliva on the damaged area in your mouth, the pain goes away almost completely. Why don’t you all try it out. Simply bite on your tongue hard enough for it to hurt and the weird tasting saliva builds up under your tongue, almost in a little puddle. Then put the part of your tongue that you bit into it. What happened?

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 09:28:18 +0000

April, doesn’t it depend where you get the papercut?

By: April

April — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:23:57 +0000

Does this help explain why people put their fingers in their mouths when they get paper cuts?

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:16:25 +0000

No offense taken Kayo. I do take your point that a lot of promising research gets mentioned in the press and then there is no subsequent follow up, but that’s been going of for years. Someone’s always got something to promote and journalists have always got space to fill. Moreover, who’s to know at the time of writing that any given discovery won’t become truly the next big thing?

By: Kayo

Kayo — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:52:33 +0000

Thank you for the prompt response. My sincere apology if my statement sounds offensive to you. This research is very inspiring since the discovery of endorphin and enkephalin in 1975. Nevertheless, there is no other researchs published after 2006. In fact, if you research Medline, NIH, and even Pasteur Institute, you find nothing on opriorphin. Why no other researchers are interested in pursuing similar research when the peptide structure has been revealed. I believe there are many others are as interested as I do. However, we need to see more scientific evidence on opriorphin before making any conclusion based on human subjects. This is my personal view as a clinical pathologist.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:40:33 +0000

Many thanks for your generous comments Kayo, of course, if i hadn’t barked and this had turned out to be a great pharma lead, I’d have looked like I was barking up the wrong tree, wouldn’t I? Anyway, I’ve emailed Prof Rougeot to ask what progress has been made and will report back.

By: Kayo

Kayo — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:45:54 +0000

It has been almost 2 years since the research published. However, nothing has come after at all. Is it the same with the case of cone snail toxin? No other research has been done to prove the pain relief effect of opiophin whatsoever. Another joke to be forgotten? What a researcher in famous Pasteur Institute. Next time please be more responsible in barking with others.

By: sciencebase

sciencebase — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:24:07 +0000

Can I just ask, why does biting your tongue mean your body is in an acidic condition? In may case, it usually just means I was chewing my food too fast or too hard and not concentrating.

By: Andrew Sun

Andrew Sun — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:15:03 +0000

Allow me to add something not close to the subject: In the theory of Chinese traditional medicine (CTM), biting your tongue means that your body is in an acidic condition which also cause inflammation easily. Typically the site you bite will remain painful for days. Drinking more water, instead of more tyr-glu-arg-phe-ser-arg, may help balancing the pH of the body.