Inhibition of streptococcal adherence by human oral secretions and its possible relationship to dental caries.
Oral secretions were collected from 100 human volunteers, concentrated, and assayed for their ability to inhibit glucan-dependent adherence of S mutans strains to glass. Some samples were found to contain adherence inhibition activity. The inhibitor was heat labile and nondialyzable but dependent on the presence of a dialyzable molecule. Comparison of activities with the caries experience (DMFT) showed that individuals with the highest activity had significantly lower mean caries scores, but that cariesfree donors did not differ significantly from caries-positive donors in mean adherence inhibition activity. These results suggest that some persons may have substances in their oral secretions that play a role in resistance to dental caries.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003956:Dialysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000502:physiology*; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000502:physiology*