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Several salivary proteins are known to exhibit genetic polymorphism, and this study was undertaken to determine whether there was an association of caries experience with specific parotid salivary protein phenotypes. Parotid saliva collected from 46 caries-free and 47 caries-active naval recruits was subjected to SDS, anionic, and cationic polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis. Distributions of the acidic proline-rich (Pr), parotid acidic (Pa), double band (Db), parotid size variant (Ps), parotid middle band (Pm), and parotid basic (Pb) protein phenotypes were similar in both caries-free and caries-active subjects. Further, overall protein patterns on SDS, anionic, and cationic slab gels did not differ between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Enamel solubility rates were measured in vivo to depths of 1 to 2 micrometers in two samples of young men from the Great Lakes naval recruit population. No clearcut relationship could be established between enamel solubility rate and dental caries experience. Factors such as tooth morphology and tooth-surface debris affected the enamel solubility rate data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acrylamide gel electrophoretic methods were used to assess the numbers and types of sucrose-metabolizing enzymes elaborated by Streptococcus mutans strains HS-6, SL-1, FA-1, and NCTC 10449. Two types of polysaccharide-synthesizing enzymes and one invertaselike enzyme were distinguished. The patterns of extracellular proteins and enzymes were distinctive for each strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrated parotid saliva from either caries-resistant or caries-active individuals, when tested in vitro, greatly enhanced the phagocytosis of many cariogenic streptococci. The amount of IgA secreted by the parotid glands or found in the whole saliva of both groups was not significantly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study of human saliva in dentistry and presents a spectroscopic method of studying saliva. Details are provided about the differences in infrared spectra of saliva in individuals with different dental caries experience. The researchers studied the spectra of dental plaque and saliva from the parotid and submaxillary glands.

An endo-1,3-α-D-glucanase was evaluated for its dental caries-preventive efficacy in male Syrian hamsters. The enzyme significantly reduced both total caries and carious area scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a method through which microorganisms can be evaluated for dextranase activity. The authors note the use of dextranase to prevent dental caries by removing dextrans from teeth. Soil samples were collected and cultivated aerobically and anaerobically in a dextran substrate before being saturated with ethanol. The ethanol revealed hydrolysis of the dextran by cultures with dextranase activity. The use of cultures of penicillia as living controls is noted.

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a micro-organism frequently associated with human periodontal diseases, is commonly cultured under a reducing atmosphere in enclosed cabinets or glove boxes. This paper reports a modified Wilkins-Chalgren (MWC) medium for the culture of P. gingivalis under atmospheric conditions at 37 degrees C. On the basis of preliminary tests, WC broth was supplemented as follows: 500 mg/l cysteine hydrochloride; 250 mg/l sodium thioglycolate; and 1,000 mg/l sodium bicarbonate. Three P. gingivalis isolates (JKG-I, 33277 and A7436) showed very similar growth over 24 and 48 h periods when cultured both in WC medium in an anaerobic chamber and in the MWC medium. Culture of these isolates both in the anaerobic chamber and in the MWC medium yielded very similar data with respect to trypsin-like activity, total protease activity, and reactivity to monoclonal antibodies specific for P. gingivalis. Growth in the MWC medium varied over a 3- to 4-fold range for seven additional isolates (JKG-7, D86B6, D13B11, D84D2, JKG9, D67D9, D82F5) over 24 and 48 h periods.

Five host-response indicators were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays on unstimulated whole saliva samples from 45 adults (19 male, 26 female). The participants were distributed among four dentate groups representing oral health (I), gingivitis (II), moderate periodontitis (III), and severe periodontitis (IV), and one group of edentulous volunteers (V). Levels of the host-response indicators varied widely, from zero, primarily with groups I and V, to relatively high values with groups II, III and IV. The levels ranged as follows: alpha 2-macroglobulin, 0-4941 ng/ml; alpha 1-antitrypsin, 2-2271 ng/ml; C-reactive protein, 0-472 pg/ml; cathepsin G, 0-6035 ng/ml; elastase, 0-164 ng/ml (free), 0-732 ng/ml (bound to alpha 1-antitrypsin), and 0-318 ng/ml (bound to alpha 2-macroglobulin). Statistical evaluation by planned contrasts showed that levels of host-response indicators for group I were significantly lower (except for alpha 1-antitrypsin) than for groups II, III, and IV. A trend analysis of groups I-IV showed that mean scores (again, except for alpha 1-antitrypsin) increased significantly in a positive, monotonic manner. Group V showed significantly lower values for elastase than in the other groups. The findings demonstrate that these factors can be detected in whole saliva and suggest that, except for alpha 1-antitrypsin, their levels are directly related to an individual's periodontal status.

This paper describes a study of whether or not the amounts of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) are correlated with periodontal clinical measures. A sensitive ELISA was developed to measure IL-6 in GCF. Two male and 3 female adult subjects with periodontal disease were examined at their first appointments, after 3 months, and after 6 months. Data were obtained on plaque index (PI), bleeding index (BI), probing depth (PD), and on the IL-6 content of GCF samples from 16 sites per subject for a total of 240 measurements. Significant correlations were found between BI and IL-6 (P < 0.005) and between PD and IL-6 (P < 0.05), but not between PI and IL-6. Only 6 out of the 80 sites (in 3 of the 5 subjects) showed PD increases of at least 2 mm. However, for each of these 3 subjects, the amounts of IL-6 in the GCF samples from these sites were markedly higher than the mean amounts of IL-6 in the GCF samples from the remaining sites. These findings suggest that IL-6 may be a useful indicator of periodontal disease, although more extensive longitudinal studies are needed to determine the real clinical value of this GCF component.

Certain oral micro-organisms associated with periodontal diseases elaborate trypsin-like enzymes. This study describes a single assay for these enzymes, based on the incorporation of the synthetic substrate N-alpha-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA) into ion-agar gel. The system can provide quantitative or qualitative data within 24 h and is suitable for use in the dental clinic.

Two basic and two acidic synthetic polypeptides that bind strongly to hydroxyapatite at neutral pH were tested to determine their influence on adsorption of two Streptococcus mutans and two Streptococcus sanguis strains to hydroxyapatite. The adsorption of the strains was significantly enhanced or reduced by the basic and acidic agents, respectively. Study of acidic polypeptides provided evidence of competition between the polypeptides and the bacterial cells for hydroxyapatite adsorption sites.

The 13C-n.m.r. spectra of water-soluble and -insoluble glucans synthesized by enzymes isolated from six strains of Streptococcus mutans are interpreted. The glucans are shown to be composed primarily of alpha-(1 linked to 3)- and alpha-(1 linked to 6)-linked glucosyl residues, and the relative abundance of each linkage is estimated from peak areas. Treatment of water-insoluble glucans with dextranase is found to result in water-soluble and -insoluble products, the former enriched in alpha-(1 linked to 6)-linkages and the latter in alpha-(1 linked to 3)-linkages. The structural conclusions arrived at by 13C-n.m.r. spectroscopy are consistent with data from methylation analysis and 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy.

An endo-1, 3-alpha-D-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.59) was purified from cell-free culture supernatants of Pseudomonas NRRL-B-12324. The enzyme was purified 8.7-fold to a specific activity of 78.1 U/mg of protein. The enzyme was inducible and had an isoelectric point of 4.6 and a Km of 80.0 mM in terms of anhydroglucose units. Two distinct peaks of activity were resolved by gel filtration with two different supporting media, whereas only one peak of activity was resolved by isoelectricfocusing. The two peaks were assigned molecular weight values of 67,400 and 279,000. The pH optimum was near 5.0 and the temperature optimum was near 56 degrees C. Additional gel filtration data indicated that the enzyme functions as an endohydrolase.

Kleinberg (1967) (Archs oral Biol. 12, 1457-1473) has observed that the incubation of a salivary sediment/supernatant mixture with a low concentration of glucose produces a pH drop followed by a pH rise. As this pH-rise effect could elevate oral pH in vivo, the degree of such activity could be directly related to caries resistance. The pH-rise of paraffin-stimulated whole saliva samples from 54 caries-free and 54 caries-active male naval recruits was compared in two assays. The first, conducted with sediment/supernatant/2.8 mM glucose mixtures, showed no significant differences for mean pH versus time profiles for 26 caries-free and 26 caries-active subjects. Concomitant assays, in which 3.33 mM arginine and water replaced the supernatants in the assay mixtures, showed slightly higher mean pH/time profiles, with higher minima for the caries-free subjects. These profile differences were statistically significant for the arginine-containing mixtures, a result attributed to different microbial distributions for the caries-free and caries-active sediments. The second assays were conducted on saliva supernatants from 28 caries-free and 28 caries-active subjects, employing a strain of Lactobacillus casei in place of salivary sediment in the assay system. No statistically significant differences were evident between the mean pH/time profiles for the two groups of subjects, although a significant positive correlation was observed between pH minimum and bicarbonate content of the samples. Thus no relationship of salivary pH-rise activity and caries experience were found.

The degradative effects on tritiated human plasma fibronectin (FN) of proteases associated with twenty five Gram-negative (GN) and fifteen Gram-positive (GP) oral microbial isolates were examined. Ninety-two per cent of the GN and 20% of the GP isolates degraded the FN. In the GN group, the degradative effects were greatest for Bacteroides gingivalis and Treponema denticola, while in the GP group Streptococcus faecalis produced appreciable, and the two Lactobacillus casei isolates moderate and low, levels of FN degradation.

The solubilities of extracellular polysaccharide fractions produced by 14 oral streptococcal strains were compared in water, aqueous lithium and guanidine salt solutions, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and a 9:1 DMSO-water mixture. The best results for solubilizing the fractions were obtained with the DMSO-water mixture procedure, which used the water and DMSO in sequence. By this method all fo the fractions were solubilized.