Maternal transmission of mutans Streptococci in severe-early childhood caries.
OBJECTIVE
This study utilized multiple genetic analyses to detect evidence of maternal MS acquisition in children with S-ECC.


METHODS
Twenty-seven mother/child pairs were selected from children with 5-ECC preceding dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia. Plaque samples were collected from the mother, child, and the child's carious lesion. Arbitrarily primed-polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) genotyped 6-8 MS isolates from each plaque sample, and unique genotypes were identified. Representative MS isolates with unique genotypes were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Cluster analysis using the Dice band-based similarity coefficient was used to generate dendrograms from gel bonding patterns. A Dice coefficient >70% indicated similarity or match among PFGE genotypes.


RESULTS
In 26% (7/27) of mother/child pairs, all of the child's isolates matched the mother. In 15% (4/27), some of the child's genotypes matched the mother, and in 59% (16/27), no isolates matched the mother. Maternal transmission was a mode of MS acquisition in 41% (11/27) of mother/child pairs, while acquisition from non-maternal sources occurred in 74% (20/27).


CONCLUSIONS
MS genotypes that did not match maternal strains were identified in the majority of children (74%) within this S-ECC population. Evidence of maternal transmission was detected in 41% of mother/child pairs.
Mitchell
Stephen C
SC
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA. stevem@uab.edu
Ruby
John D
JD
Moser
Stephen
S
Momeni
Stephanie
S
Smith
Anita
A
Osgood
Robert
R
Litaker
Mark
M
Childers
Noel
N
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000635:transmission; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
D004269:DNA, Bacterial