title: Effect of nicotine on cariogenic virulence of Streptococcus mutans.
abstract: Nicotine has well-documented effects on the growth and colonization of Streptococcus mutans. This study attempts to investigate the effects of nicotine on pathogenic factors of S. mutans, such as the effect on biofilm formation and viability, expression of pathogenic genes, and metabolites of S. mutans. The results demonstrated that addition of nicotine did not significantly influence the viability of S. mutans cells. The biofilms became increasingly compact as the concentrations of nicotine increased. The expression of virulence genes, such as ldh and phosphotransferase system (PTS)-associated genes, was upregulated, and nlmC was upregulated significantly, while ftf was downregulated. The lactate concentration of S. mutans grown in 1 mg/mL of nicotine was increased up to twofold over either biofilm or planktonic cells grown without nicotine. Changes in the metabolites involved in central carbon metabolism from sucrose indicated that most selected metabolites were detectable and influenced by increased concentrations of nicotine. This study demonstrated that nicotine can influence the pathogenicity of S. mutans and may lead to increased dental caries through the production of more lactate and the upregulation of virulence genes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, 3rd Section of Ren Min Nan Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China. limingyun@scu.edu.cn.|Department of Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of Dentistry, Indiana University, 1121 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. limingyun@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mingyun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, 3rd Section of Ren Min Nan Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.|Department of Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of Dentistry, Indiana University, 1121 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.|Department of Pediatric Dentistry, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Ruijie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, 3rd Section of Ren Min Nan Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xuedong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, 3rd Section of Ren Min Nan Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, 3rd Section of Ren Min Nan Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of Dentistry, Indiana University, 1121 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. rgregory@iu.edu.|Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. rgregory@iu.edu.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Gregory
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D009538:Nicotine / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors; D019344:Lactic Acid; D009538:Nicotine