• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 1982

In order to demonstrate the effect of specific serum IgG antibody on the adherence of Streptococcus mutans to smooth surface and the mechanism of effective adherence inhibition by IgG antibody, in the present study authors obtained purified IgG from different immunogen preparations of S. mutans NCTC 10449(serotype c) and observed the effect of each IgG preparation on the adherence of each S. mutans strain cultured in different conditions. In addition, the present study was undertaken to observe the cross-reactivity of IgG and the effect of sucrose concentration on the adherence of S. mutans in vitro non-growth condition. The adherence of S. mutans to glass surface was effectively inhibited by serum IgG antibody. At the same IgG concentrations, anti-2% fructose grown/1N NaCl washed S. mutans NCTC 10449 cell showed greater adherence inhibitory effect to S. mutans strains than anti-2% sucrose grown and anti-S. mutans NCTC 10449 cell wall, and the greater inhibitory effects of IgG preparations were observed in assay using 2% fructose grown S. mutans cell preparations than using 0.1% sucrose grown cell preparations. These results suggest that the more effective adherence inhibition by serum IgG antibody is due to the reaction with S. mutans cell surface antigens rather than glucan and cell-associated glucosyltransferase. The greatest adherence inhibitory effect of IgG to S. mutans strains was observed on homologous NCTC 10449 strain and the inhibition cross-reactivities were observed between serotype c, e, and f strains. More pronounced cross-reactivity of adherence inhibition of IgG to S. mutans was observed in assay using anti-2% fructose grown/1N NaCl washed cell than using other IgG preparations, and observed in assay using 2% fructose grown S. mutans cell preparations than 0.1% sucrose grown cell preparations. It was interested that low, but adequate concentration of reactive IgG antibody significantly increased the adherence ability of S. mutans. This result may be due to the formation of small cell aggregates resulted in a increase in the numbers of organisms which adhered to glass surface. The adherence of S. mutans to glass surface was possible in the absence of glucan-synthetic activity. Low level of sucrose significantly increased the adherence ability of S. mutans to glass surface, but excessive amount of sucrose induced large cell aggregates resulted in a decrease in the numbers of organism which adhered.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the inhibitory effects of Resina Pini against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) that is one of the major causes of dental caries and oral diseases. Topically applied Resina Pini (RP) would be incorporated in saliva and thus the factor associated with water solubility should be considered. In this paper, therefore, effects of various treatment for RP and activities of water extracts from unprocessed and processed RP were compared. The crude RP (RP1) and the recrystallized RP (RP2) in ethanol solution showed strong antimicrobial activities (d.>15mm) against S. mutans. All RP samples exhibited considerable inhibitory effect against glucosyltransferase produced by S. mutans $(IC_{50}=91.2\;to\;276.2\;{\mu}g/ml)$. The very considerable increase in cellular permeability of S. mutans was observed with RP1, RP2 and their water extracts. These results suggest that RP1 and RP2 may be a potential source for pharmaceutical products used for prevention and/or treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2014

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is a facultative anaerobic bacterium mainly found in the oral cavity and is known to contribute to tooth decay and gingivitis. Recent studies on intestinal microbiota have revealed that microorganisms forming a biofilm play important roles in maintaining tissue homeostasis through their own metabolism. However, the physiological roles of oral microorganisms such as S. mutans are still unclear. In our current study, we identified that constituents released from S. mutans (CR) reduce arecoline-mediated cytotoxicity without producing toxic effects themselves. Arecoline, as a major alkaloid of areca nut, is known to mediate cytotoxicity on oral epithelial cells and induces a sustained intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) increase that is cytotoxic. The exposure of human gingival fibroblast (HGF) cells to CR not only inhibited the sustained $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase but also the initial $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ elevation. In contrast, CR had no effects on the gene regulation mediated by arecoline. These results demonstrate that S. mutans has physiological role in reducing cytotoxicity in HGF cells and may be considered a novel pharmaceutical candidate.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.321-325
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• 2010

Among endogenous oral microflora, Streptococcus mutans plays a critical role in dental plaque formation, which mainly contributes to the development of caries and periodontal disease. Phytochemicals are plant-derived chemical compounds that have been studied as beneficial nutrients to human health. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of phytochemicals against S. mutans. Among them, oleanolic acid (OA) and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furfural (HF) from Thomson seedless raisins were tested for anti-microbial effects against various clinically important bacteria. OA inhibited the growth of Gram-positive bacteria, but not Gram-negative bacteria. However, HF did not display any antibacterial effect against any of the strains tested. OA also exhibited inhibitory effects in surface adherence and biofilm formation of S. mutans. The results suggest that OA can be utilized as a potential anti-plaque and anti-caries agent by controlling the physiological characteristics of S. mutans on teeth.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2021

In this study, to investigate the anticariogenic effect of red ginseng, the antibacterial effect, cell adherence and biofilm formation inhibitory effect of n-hexane extract of red ginseng marc (HERGM) against Streptococcus mutans, the causative bacteria of caries, were measured. The growth of S. mutans was inhibited in proportion to the concentration of HERGM, and was hardly observed at a concentration above 125 ㎍/mL (MIC =125 ㎍/mL). It was found that HERGM acts on the cell membrane and the nucleic acid component of the cell was leaked. In addition, HERGM inhibited the adherence and biofilm formation of S. mutans by more than 90% at a concentration of 125 ㎍/mL. GTase activity was completely inhibited at a concentration of 50 ㎍/mL of HERGM. In conclusion, it was found that HERGM commonly inhibited the growth and biofilm formation of S. mutans.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.357-369
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• 2005

Streptococci are Gram-positive, facultative anaerobes and have no catalase activities. Among mutans streptococci containing ${\alpha}-type$ hemolytic activity, S. mutans is a causative agent for dental caries. As well as acid production yielding the demineralization of tooth enamel, adherence and colonization of S. mutans to the teeth are also important for its virulence. These early colonization are accomplished by the bacterial fibrillar protein, Antigen I/II (Ag I/II) and glucosyltransferase (GTF). Therefore, Ag I/II and GTF are reasonable targets for the development of vaccine against S. mutans GS-5. The ag I/II and gtfD genes from S. mutans GS-5 were cloned and sequenced. Sequence analyses showed the nucleotides sequence of cloned genes had high homology to the sequences previously reported. The sequence alignment of 280 nucleotides between the cloned Ag I/II and the available sequence of the corresponding S. mutans GS-5 showed the perfect match. Comparing with the sequence of gtfD from S. mutans UA159, the corresponding nucleotide sequence of S. mutans GS-5 showed some mismatches and the mismatches introduced changes in four residues out of 105 amino acids, yielding four missense mutations.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.116-126
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• 1998

Numerous chemical agents have been developed to reduce the activity of cariogenic bacteria. Of these, chlorhexidine is acknowledged as the most effective. Gel and mouthrinse have been the traditional method of its application in the mouth. It has been reported that chlorhexidine varnish has prolonged inhibitory effect on the number of streptococcus mutans in saliva and plaque. Recently, chlorhexidine varnish and polyurethane sealant have been developed to promote prolonged anticariogenic effect of chlorhexidine. Products containing 10% chlorhexidine varnish and polyurethane sealant have been developed to prevent caries by reducing the number of streptococcus mutans in the oral cavity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effect of chlorhexidine varnish and polyurethane sealant on streptococcus mutans in the primary dentition. Children with primary dentition containing no active carious lesion were divided into two groups. To the experimental group (n=11), chlorhexidine varnish and polyurethane sealant ($Chlorzoin^{(R)}$, Knowell Therapeutic Technologies, Inc. Canada.) was applied once a week for four weeks according to the manufacturer's instruction. Only oral prophylaxis was performed on the control group(n=7). Caries activity was measured after using $Cariescreen^{(R)}$SM (Knowell Therapeutic Technologies, Inc. Canada,) to incubate streptococcus mutans before and 5, 12, 24 weeks after initial varnish application. The following results were observed.; 1. There was statistically significant decrease in the number of streptococcus mutans in the experimental group for 5 weeks(P<0.01), 12 weeks(P<0.05) after the initial application. but, by 24 weeks significant difference had disappeared. 2. As the inhibitory effect of chlorhexidine varnish and polyurethane sealant application is not everlasting, reapplication at 12-24 weeks should be needed.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.337-341
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• 2022

In this study, the effect of the combined use of a lipid-soluble n-hexane extract of red ginseng marc (HERGM) and water-soluble arginine, which exhibits anticaries activity, on the growth of Streptococccus mutans was investigated. As a result of checkerboard assay, HERGM and arginine showed a synergistic effect in inhibiting the growth of S. mutans with a fractional inhibitory concentration index of 0.396. Combination treatments of HERGM and arginine resulted in leakage of nucleic acid components and decrease in the viable cell counts of S. mutans, all of which were proportional to the concentration of HERGM. In conclusion, the synergistic effect of HERGM and arginine on the growth inhibition of S. mutans is mainly attributed to HERGM.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 1991

For the purpose of developing of anticariogenic agents, P-phenylphenol derivatives were synthesized and determined their antibacterial activities against a cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus mutans. Among synthetic compounds, 2-nitro-6-bromo-p-phenylphenol showed as potent antibacterial activity as magnolol and honokiol.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.613-620
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibacterial effect of Streptococcus mutans of tea tree ingredient. Methods: The experimental groups were each given with different concentrations (30 or 50 vol%) of tea tree prepared in saline solution. The control group applied only saline solution. The tea tree coating of the specimen were examined under a scanning electron microscope. For the antibacterial activity test of the tea tree, the contact angle of the tea tree- coated specimen's surface was analyzed. The antibacterial effect against Streptococcus mutans was determined by counting the colony forming units (CFU). The statical statics were evaluated by using one-way ANOVA and paired t-test. Results: The tea tree treated group of hydrophilic more than non treated group. Antibacterial experiments demonstrated that tee tree solution was effective against Streptococcus mutans. However there was no significant difference in depending solution concentration groups. Conclusions: The antimicrobial activity of the tea tree containing solution showed its potential for use as coating for denture and medical materials.