Areej Alfaifi

May 14, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Areej Alfaifi |Tristan W. Wang |Paola Pérez |Ahmed Sultan

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 targets salivary glands potentially impacting oral health. We show that presence of replicating viruses in the acinar cells of salivary glands compromises production and secretion of histatin-5, a key host-produced antifungal peptide. The salivary levels of histatin-5 were significantly reduced in SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects, concomitant with enhanced prevalence of the fungal opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans.

Sep 3, 2023 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Areej Alfaifi |John Brooks |Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk |Timothy F. Meiller

Corresponding Author Ahmed S. Sultan Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Correspondence Ahmed S.