The effects of streptozotocin diabetes on salivary-mediated bacterial aggregation and adherence.

Diabetic rats are known to have an increased susceptibility to dental caries and major alterations in parotid salivary composition. Salivary proteins play an important part in oral health maintenance; thus specific changes in salivary protein composition in diabetic animals might alter the ecological balance in favour of cariogenic bacteria, and toward the initiation and progression of the disease process. The ability of whole, parotid and submandibular salivas from control and streptozotocin-diabetic rats to mediate the aggregation and adherence to hydroxyapatite of mutans streptococci was examined. Salivary-mediated bacterial aggregating activity was significantly reduced in whole and parotid salivas from diabetic rats, but bacterial adherence to hydroxyapatite was unaffected. The aggregating and adherence activities of rat whole saliva were derived mainly from parotid saliva, which contains predominantly low molecular-weight proteins and glycoproteins (< 200 kDa), but rat parotid saliva was capable of interacting with the bacterial receptor for the high molecular-weight aggregating factor in human saliva. SDS-PAGE of parotid saliva revealed that a number of proteins, including the basic and acid proline-rich proteins, were altered in the salivas of diabetic animals. After incubation with either Streptococcus mutans or hydroxyapatite several protein bands were depleted, and thus a variety of proteins and glycoproteins may be responsible for the adherence and aggregating activity of rat parotid saliva.