Vacca Smith A M, Scott-Anne K M, Whelehan M T, Berkowitz R J, Feng C, Bowen W H
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Caries Res. 2007;41(6):445-50. doi: 10.1159/000107930. Epub 2007 Sep 7.
Bacteria-derived glucosyltransferases (Gtf) (EC 2.4.1.5), through synthesizing glucan polymers from sucrose and starch hydrolysates, play an essential role in the etiology and pathogenesis of caries. We attempted to correlate the levels of Gtf in whole saliva with the prevalence of carious lesions in young children. We examined saliva from children who were either free of overt carious lesions, or had severe early childhood caries (mean dmfs = 18.72 +/- 9.0 SD), for Gtf by direct enzyme assay. The levels of GtfB, GtfC and GtfD from Streptococcus mutans in the saliva using monoclonal/specific antibodies in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were determined. Multiple logistic regression analyses with model selection showed that GtfB levels correlated with dmfs values of the subjects (p = 0.006). There was no correlation between total Gtf activity as measured by direct enzyme assay and dmfs values. There was a strong correlation between mutans streptococci populations in saliva and caries activity. Collectively, these data show that GtfB levels in saliva correlate strongly with presence of clinical caries and with number of carious lesions in young children. It is also possible to measure different Gtfs, separately, in whole saliva. These observations may have important clinical implications, may lead to development of a chair side caries activity test and support the importance of GtfB in the pathogenesis of dental caries.
细菌衍生的葡糖基转移酶（Gtf）（EC 2.4.1.5）通过从蔗糖和淀粉水解产物合成葡聚糖聚合物，在龋齿的病因学和发病机制中起重要作用。我们试图将全唾液中Gtf的水平与幼儿龋齿病变的患病率相关联。我们通过直接酶测定法检查了无明显龋齿病变或患有严重幼儿龋齿（平均dmfs = 18.72 +/- 9.0 SD）的儿童的唾液中的Gtf。使用单克隆/特异性抗体通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测定唾液中变形链球菌的GtfB、GtfC和GtfD水平。采用模型选择的多元逻辑回归分析表明，GtfB水平与受试者的dmfs值相关（p = 0.006）。通过直接酶测定法测得的总Gtf活性与dmfs值之间没有相关性。唾液中变形链球菌菌群与龋齿活性之间存在很强的相关性。总体而言，这些数据表明唾液中的GtfB水平与幼儿临床龋齿的存在以及龋齿病变的数量密切相关。在全唾液中分别测量不同的Gtf也是可行的。这些观察结果可能具有重要的临床意义，可能会导致开发一种椅旁龋齿活性测试，并支持GtfB在龋齿发病机制中的重要性。
