Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (707 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The discharge of saliva from the salivary glands that keeps the mouth tissues moist and aids in digestion.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Digestion
- See also
- Sialorrhea; Xerostomia
Related concepts
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 4,215 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Salivation” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 200 of them (4.7%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 2,722 records.
Reviews account for 280 records (6.6%) and meta-analyses for 19. Randomized controlled trials number 285 (6.8%) as a share of all records on the topic.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 2,722 |
| 2000-2009 | 680 |
| 2010-2019 | 613 |
| 2020 onward | 200 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 280 | 6.6% |
| Meta-analyses | 19 | 0.5% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 285 | 6.8% |
Method: PubMed query "Salivation"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
Common oral complications of head and neck cancer radiation therapy: mucositis, infections, saliva change, fibrosis, sensory dysfunctions, dental caries, periodontal disease, and osteoradionecrosis [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Patients undergoing radiation therapy for the head and neck are susceptible to a significant and often abrupt deterioration in their oral health.
- Closing excerpt
- A case for a collaborative and integrated multidisciplinary approach to the management of these patients is made, with specific recommendation to include knowledgeable and experienced oral health care professionals in the treatment team.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (179 words)
Patients undergoing radiation therapy for the head and neck are susceptible to a significant and often abrupt deterioration in their oral health. The oral morbidities of radiation therapy include but are not limited to an increased susceptibility to dental caries and periodontal disease. They also include profound and often permanent functional and sensory changes involving the oral soft tissue. These changes range from oral mucositis experienced during and soon after treatment, mucosal opportunistic infections, neurosensory disorders, and tissue fibrosis. Many of the oral soft tissue changes following radiation therapy are difficult challenges to the patients and their caregivers and require life-long strategies to alleviate their deleterious effect on basic life functions and on the quality of life. We discuss the presentation, prognosis, and management strategies of the dental structure and oral soft tissue morbidities resulting from the administration of therapeutic radiation in head and neck patient. A case for a collaborative and integrated multidisciplinary approach to the management of these patients is made, with specific recommendation to include knowledgeable and experienced oral health care professionals in the treatment team.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 29071801 · DOI · PMC5727249
A spatial gradient of bacterial diversity in the human oral cavity shaped by salivary flow [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial communities provide insights into the forces that shape them, their functions and roles in health and disease.
- Closing excerpt
- Taken together, our findings imply that salivary flow influences the spatial organization of microbial communities and that biogeographical patterns may be useful for understanding host physiological processes and for predicting disease.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (149 words)
Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial communities provide insights into the forces that shape them, their functions and roles in health and disease. Here, we used spatial and ecological statistics to analyze the role that saliva plays in structuring bacterial communities of the human mouth using >9000 dental and mucosal samples. We show that regardless of tissue type (teeth, alveolar mucosa, keratinized gingiva, or buccal mucosa), surface-associated bacterial communities vary along an ecological gradient from the front to the back of the mouth, and that on exposed tooth surfaces, the gradient is pronounced on lingual compared to buccal surfaces. Furthermore, our data suggest that this gradient is attenuated in individuals with low salivary flow due to Sjögren's syndrome. Taken together, our findings imply that salivary flow influences the spatial organization of microbial communities and that biogeographical patterns may be useful for understanding host physiological processes and for predicting disease.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 29445174 · DOI · PMC5813034
Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test: Norms, Clinical Relevance and the Impact of Saliva Secretion [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Screening tests can be performed to identify stroke patients who require further assessment of swallowing function.
- Closing excerpt
- This suggests that patients who show signs of aspiration according to SSA-S have a lower probability of detection with RSST.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (215 words)
Screening tests can be performed to identify stroke patients who require further assessment of swallowing function. The Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST) is a screening test during which the patient is asked to swallow saliva as many times as possible for 30 s, while deglutition is counted through palpation of the larynx. This study aimed to establish normative values for three age groups of non-patients (total N = 120) on RSST. One patient group (N = 40) was also recruited from a geriatric stroke unit to assess whether RSST scores predicted outcomes on the Standardised Swallowing Assessment-Svenska (SSA-S), a clinical screening tool here used as a reference test. Since the RSST involves the swallowing of saliva, this study also measured the participants' saliva secretion in order to examine its effect on RSST performance. This study showed that RSST results vary with age (lower among older) and gender (higher for men than women), while the number of doctor-prescribed medications, objective saliva secretion and self-assessed dryness of mouth did not affect the performance significantly. In comparison to a more extensive clinical screening procedure (SSA-S), the RSST correctly predicted 93% of negative cases and 69% of positive cases. This suggests that patients who show signs of aspiration according to SSA-S have a lower probability of detection with RSST.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 30132122 · DOI · PMC6421277
Chlorpromazine induces hyposalivation by inhibiting muscarinic Ca2+ signaling in salivary glands [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Chlorpromazine (CPZ), a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, is an antipsychotic drug widely used in the treatment of schizophrenia.
- Closing excerpt
- These findings suggest that in salivary glands, CPZ induces hyposalivation by inhibiting Ca2+ signaling through multiple sites of action, including muscarinic receptor and SOCE.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (164 words)
Chlorpromazine (CPZ), a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, is an antipsychotic drug widely used in the treatment of schizophrenia. While CPZ is known to induce hyposalivation, the exact mechanism by which it inhibits secretory function in the salivary glands remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism underlying CPZ-induced hyposalivation. Our findings confirmed that CPZ decreases salivation by inhibiting muscarinic signaling in a dose-dependent manner in a mouse model. By analyzing a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) database, we searched known CPZ targets in salivary gland cells and found that dopamine receptors are not expressed in these cells. CPZ inhibited the increase in intracellular Ca2+ triggered by muscarinic and histamine receptors in human salivary gland cells. This inhibition involved both the release of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the influx of extracellular Ca2+ through store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). These findings suggest that in salivary glands, CPZ induces hyposalivation by inhibiting Ca2+ signaling through multiple sites of action, including muscarinic receptor and SOCE.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 40699237 · DOI · PMC12894136
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Salivary secretion in health and disease [5]
- Research article Salivary secretions by aphids interacting with proteins of phloem wound responses [6]
- Research article The secretion, components, and properties of saliva [7]
- Research article Review: The physiology of saliva and transfer of drugs into saliva [8]
- Research article A reference guide to drugs and dry mouth--2nd edition [9]
- Research article α-Amylase as a reliable and convenient measure of sympathetic activity: don't start salivating just yet! [10]
References
- Sroussi HY, Epstein JB, Bensadoun RJ, Saunders DP, Lalla RV, Migliorati CA, et al.. Common oral complications of head and neck cancer radiation therapy: mucositis, infections, saliva change, fibrosis, sensory dysfunctions, dental caries, periodontal disease, and osteoradionecrosis. . 2017. PMID 29071801 · DOI · PMC5727249
- Proctor DM, Fukuyama JA, Loomer PM, Armitage GC, Lee SA, Davis NM, et al.. A spatial gradient of bacterial diversity in the human oral cavity shaped by salivary flow. . 2018. PMID 29445174 · DOI · PMC5813034
- Persson E, Wårdh I, Östberg P. Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test: Norms, Clinical Relevance and the Impact of Saliva Secretion. . 2019. PMID 30132122 · DOI · PMC6421277
- Kim YJ, Kim YB, Kim S, Choi TY, Park HK, Choi SY. Chlorpromazine induces hyposalivation by inhibiting muscarinic Ca2+ signaling in salivary glands. . 2026. PMID 40699237 · DOI · PMC12894136
- Pedersen AML, Sørensen CE, Proctor GB, Carpenter GH, Ekström J. Salivary secretion in health and disease. J Oral Rehabil. 2018. PMID 29878444 · DOI
- Tjallingii WF. Salivary secretions by aphids interacting with proteins of phloem wound responses. J Exp Bot. 2006. PMID 16467410 · DOI
- Carpenter GH. The secretion, components, and properties of saliva. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol. 2013. PMID 23464573 · DOI
- Aps JK, Martens LC. Review: The physiology of saliva and transfer of drugs into saliva. Forensic Sci Int. 2005. PMID 15944052 · DOI
- Sreebny LM, Schwartz SS. A reference guide to drugs and dry mouth--2nd edition. Gerodontology. 1997. PMID 9610301 · DOI
- Bosch JA, Veerman EC, de Geus EJ, Proctor GB. α-Amylase as a reliable and convenient measure of sympathetic activity: don't start salivating just yet!. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011. PMID 21295411 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.