This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tao, R. Articles by Dale, B. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tao, R. Articles by Dale, B. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2005, p. 3883-3888, Vol. 49, No. 9
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.49.9.3883-3888.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Salivary Antimicrobial Peptide Expression and Dental Caries Experience in Children

Renchuan Tao,^1, Richard J. Jurevic,^1, Kimberly K. Coulton,^1, Marjorie T. Tsutsui,¹ Marilyn C. Roberts,² Janet R. Kimball,¹ Norma Wells,³ Jeffery Berndt,⁴ and Beverly A. Dale^1,5*

Departments of Oral Biology,¹ Pathobiology,² Dental Public Health Sciences,³ Biochemistry and Medicine/Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington,⁵ Yakima Valley Farmworker's Clinic, Yakima, Washington⁴

Received 27 January 2005/ Returned for modification 28 April 2005/ Accepted 18 June 2005

Dental caries is a major worldwide oral disease problem in children. Although caries are known to be influenced by dietary factors, the disease results from a bacterial infection; thus, caries susceptibility may be affected by host factors such as salivary antimicrobial peptides. This study aimed to determine a possible correlation between caries prevalence in children and salivary concentrations of the antimicrobial peptides human beta-defensin-3 (hBD-3), the cathelicidin LL37, and the alpha-defensins HNP1-3 (a mixture of HNP1, 2, 3). Oral examinations were performed on 149 middle school children, and unstimulated whole saliva was collected for immunoassays of the three peptides and for assay of caries-causing bacteria in saliva. The median salivary levels of hBD-3, LL37, and HNP1-3 were in the microgram/ml range but were highly variable in the population. While levels of LL37 and hBD-3 did not correlate with caries experience, the median HNP1-3 levels were significantly higher in children with no caries than in children with caries. Children with high caries levels did not have high levels of salivary Streptococcus mutans, and the HNP1-3 level was not correlated with salivary S. mutans. By immunohistochemistry we localized HNP1-3 in submandibular salivary duct cells. HNPs are also released by neutrophils into the gingival crevicular fluid. Both sources may account for their presence in saliva. Low salivary levels of HNP1-3 may represent a biological factor that contributes to caries susceptibility. This observation could lead to new ways to screen for caries susceptibility and to new means of assessing the risk for this common oral problem.

Present address: Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.

Department of Oral Diagnosis, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

Department of Dental Hygiene, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, Ga.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dietrich, D. E., Xiao, X., Dawson, D. V., Belanger, M., Xie, H., Progulske-Fox, A., Brogden, K. A. (2008). Human {alpha}- and {beta}-Defensins Bind to Immobilized Adhesins from Porphyromonas gingivalis. Infect. Immun. 76: 5714-5720 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gryllos, I., Tran-Winkler, H. J., Cheng, M.-F., Chung, H., Bolcome, R. III, Lu, W., Lehrer, R. I., Wessels, M. R. (2008). Induction of group A Streptococcus virulence by a human antimicrobial peptide. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 16755-16760 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Diamond, G., Beckloff, N., Ryan, L.K. (2008). Host Defense Peptides in the Oral Cavity and the Lung: Similarities and Differences. J. Dent. Res. 87: 915-927 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bucki, R., Namiot, D. B., Namiot, Z., Savage, P. B., Janmey, P. A. (2008). Salivary mucins inhibit antibacterial activity of the cathelicidin-derived LL-37 peptide but not the cationic steroid CSA-13. J Antimicrob Chemother 62: 329-335 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ghosh, S. K., Gerken, T. A., Schneider, K. M., Feng, Z., McCormick, T. S., Weinberg, A. (2007). Quantification of Human {beta}-Defensin-2 and -3 in Body Fluids: Application for Studies of Innate Immunity. Clin. Chem. 53: 757-765 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vylkova, S., Nayyar, N., Li, W., Edgerton, M. (2007). Human {beta}-Defensins Kill Candida albicans in an Energy-Dependent and Salt-Sensitive Manner without Causing Membrane Disruption. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 154-161 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bucki, R., Janmey, P. A. (2006). Interaction of the Gelsolin-Derived Antibacterial PBP 10 Peptide with Lipid Bilayers and Cell Membranes.. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 2932-2940 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Altman, H., Steinberg, D., Porat, Y., Mor, A., Fridman, D., Friedman, M., Bachrach, G. (2006). In vitro assessment of antimicrobial peptides as potential agents against several oral bacteria. J Antimicrob Chemother 58: 198-201 [Abstract] [Full Text]