Serotype distribution of Streptococcus mutans a pathogen of dental caries in cardiovascular specimens from Japanese patients

• Published in: Journal of medical microbiology Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 551 - 556
• Main Authors: Nakano, Kazuhiko, Nemoto, Hirotoshi, Nomura, Ryota, Homma, Hiromi, Yoshioka, Hideo, Shudo, Yasuhiro, Hata, Hiroki, Toda, Koichi, Taniguchi, Kazuhiro, Amano, Atsuo, Ooshima, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.04.2007; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Atherosclerosis - microbiology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Dental Caries - microbiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart Valve Diseases - microbiology; Humans; Infectious diseases; Japan; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Mouth - microbiology; Serotyping; Streptococcus mutans; Streptococcus mutans - isolation & purification; Japan; Human; Streptococcaceae; Microbiology; Stomatology; Dental disease; Streptococcus A; Dental carie; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Serotype; Streptococcus mutans
• ISSN: 0022-2615; 1473-5644
• DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.47051-0

1 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan 2 Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital, 1179-3 Nagasane-cho, Sakai, Osaka 591-0825, Japan 3 Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital, 1179-3 Nagasane-cho, Sakai, Osaka 591-0825, Japan 4 Department of Oral Frontier Biology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan Correspondence Takashi Ooshima ooshima{at}dent.osaka-u.ac.jp Received 6 November 2006 Accepted 19 December 2006 The involvement of oral bacteria in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease has been studied, with Streptococcus mutans , a pathogen of dental caries, detected in cardiovascular lesions at a high frequency. However, no information is available regarding the properties of S. mutans detected in those lesions. Heart valve specimens were collected from 52 patients and atheromatous plaque specimens from 50 patients, all of whom underwent cardiovascular operations, and dental plaque specimens were taken from 41 of those subjects prior to surgery. Furthermore, saliva samples were taken from 73 sets of healthy mothers ( n =73) and their healthy children ( n =78). Bacterial DNA was extracted from all specimens, then analysed by PCR with S. mutans -specific and serotype-specific primer sets. The detection rates of S. mutans in the heart valve and atheromatous plaque specimens were 63 and 64 %, respectively. Non- c serotypes were identified with a significantly higher frequency in both cardiovascular and dental plaque samples from the subjects who underwent surgery as compared to serotype c , which was detected in 70–75 % of the samples from the healthy subjects. The serotype distribution in cardiovascular patients was significantly different from that in healthy subjects, suggesting that S. mutans serotype may be related to cardiovascular disease. Abbreviations: IE, infective endocarditis; RGP, rhamnose–glucose polymer.