title: Influence of xylitol on growth, establishment, and cariogenicity of Streptococcus mutans in dental plaque of rats.
abstract: The influence of xylitol on glucose metabolism of Streptococcus mutans C67-1S was studied in vitro and in rats in vivo. In vitro there was an inhibition by xylitol of the growth rate and acid production of S. mutans C67-1S, but in vivo no effect on the initial growth rate could be demonstrated. In vivo there was a delay in the start of growth of S. mutans which resulted in a 10-day delay of establishment. The isolated xylitol-resistant mutant of C67-1S, S. mutans C67-1S XR, showed no difference in glucose metabolism in batch cultures. S. mutans C67-1S and S. mutans C67-1S XR were both used to study caries development in SPF Osborne Mendel rats. The rats were housed under programmed feeding conditions and were fed a glucose or a glucose-xylitol diet. In the case of S. mutans C67-1S, there was a remarkable inhibition of fissure caries lesions in the presence of xylitol compared to the glucose group. But also in the S. mutans C67-1S XR groups there were fewer lesions in the presence of xylitol. These results indicated that the anticariogenic properties of xylitol do not only depend on an inhibition of bacterial metabolism, but in part on other mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology, School of Dentistry, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Beckers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D007773:Lactates / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D014993:Xylitol / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D005947:Glucose; D014993:Xylitol