Diarrheal Disease Protection May Literally Be within Spitting Distance

While it’s not typically desirable to think about saliva and diarrhea in the same context, a new study led by investigators at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) may have just uncovered a role for a family of salivary peptides in defending the body against diarrheal disease. The research team identified a protein in saliva (histatin-5) that protects enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), which causes significant worldwide morbidity and mortality in young children and is the