Human Saliva May Avert AIDS

Human saliva may prevent the AIDS virus from infecting immune system cells, offering a possible explanation why the disease is not transmitted by kissing, researchers said today.

Scientists from the National Institute of Dental Research mixed saliva collected from three healthy men with the HIV virus and lymphocytes, which are the white blood cells that orchestrate the bodies’ immune response. In such a mixture, the saliva protected the lymphocytes--the main targets of the HIV virus--from infection. The study did not isolate the protective factor in saliva or how it works.