Suehiro Yuto, Okuda Makoto, Otsugu Masatoshi, Ochiai Marin, Takagi Misato, Tojo Fumikazu, Mikasa Yusuke, Naka Shuhei, Matsumoto-Nakano Michiyo, Lapirattanakul Jinthana, Okawa Rena, Nomura Ryota, Nakano Kazuhiko
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate School of Dentistry, The University of Osaka, 1-8 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 25;15(1):27047. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-11478-w.
Dental caries is a highly prevalent infectious disease primarily caused by the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus mutans, which has also been associated with systemic disease. A 120-kDa collagen-binding protein (Cnm) produced by S. mutans contributes to cardiovascular disease pathogenicity. Few studies have addressed the current prevalence of S. mutans and the cnm gene in Japanese children or examined caries pathology in relation to cnm presence. Here, we investigated the prevalence of S. mutans and the distribution of cnm-positive S. mutans among 490 children who visited two university hospitals in Japan. The caries experience index (dmft/DMFT) was calculated, and the collagen-binding ability of cnm-positive S. mutans strains was assessed. S. mutans was isolated from the oral cavities of 158 patients (36.8%); 10.1% (16/158) harbored cnm-positive S. mutans. When caries experience indices were compared across dentitions, patients harboring cnm-positive strains had significantly higher dmft/DMFT scores than those with cnm-negative strains (P < 0.05). Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between the collagen-binding capacity of cnm-positive S. mutans and the dmft/DMFT score (r = 0.601, P < 0.05). These findings suggest that cnm contributes to caries progression through collagen-mediated adherence to tooth surfaces. The presence of cnm-positive S. mutans may represent a risk factor for increased caries susceptibility in children.
龋齿是一种高度流行的传染病，主要由致病性细菌变形链球菌引起，该细菌也与全身性疾病有关。变形链球菌产生的一种120 kDa的胶原结合蛋白（Cnm）会导致心血管疾病的致病性。很少有研究涉及日本儿童中变形链球菌和cnm基因的当前流行情况，或研究与cnm存在相关的龋齿病理学。在此，我们调查了490名到日本两家大学医院就诊的儿童中变形链球菌的流行情况以及cnm阳性变形链球菌的分布。计算了龋齿经验指数（dmft/DMFT），并评估了cnm阳性变形链球菌菌株的胶原结合能力。从158名患者（36.8%）的口腔中分离出了变形链球菌；10.1%（16/158）携带cnm阳性变形链球菌。当比较不同牙列的龋齿经验指数时，携带cnm阳性菌株的患者的dmft/DMFT得分显著高于携带cnm阴性菌株的患者（P < 0.05）。此外，观察到cnm阳性变形链球菌的胶原结合能力与dmft/DMFT得分之间存在正相关（r = 0.601，P < 0.05）。这些发现表明，cnm通过胶原介导的对牙面的黏附促进龋齿进展。cnm阳性变形链球菌的存在可能代表儿童龋齿易感性增加的一个危险因素。
