Bone resorbing activity of surface-associated material from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Eikenella corrodens.

The results of this study demonstrate that saline extracted surface-associated material (SAM) of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Eikenella corrodens stimulates bone resorption at picomolar concentrations. Various inhibitors of known osteolytic mediators--indomethacin, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and a neutralising antibody to murine tumour necrosis factor (TNF) alpha--were tested to determine the mechanism of action of these SAMs. Bone resorption induced by SAM from E. corrodens was slightly inhibited by indomethacin and almost completely inhibited by blocking the action of TNF alpha; that from A. actinomycetemcomitans was not significantly affected by either of these inhibitors.