Salivary levels of putative cariogenic organisms in patients with eating disorders.
The present study examined the hypothesis that women with eating disorders associated with a history of chronic vomiting can be characterized by a salivary flora with high levels of aciduric organisms, such as, mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeast. Three groups of female subjects were studied: vomiting bulimics (G1; n = 14), and comparison groups selected for high Streptococcus mutans (G2; n = 13), and low S. mutans levels (G3; n = 12). The prevalence and levels of mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeast tended to be higher in bulimics than in non-bulimics. The bulimics had significantly higher levels and higher prevalence of Streptococcus sobrinus than the non-bulimics. A high S. sobrinus colonization may be a marker for a history of vomiting in bulimia.
Bretz
W A
WA
Krahn
D D
DD
Drewnowski
A
A
Loesche
W J
WJ
D002032:Bulimia / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015003:Yeasts / Q000302:isolation & purification*