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Human lactoferrin protects against Streptococcus mutans ‐induced caries in mice
Author(s) -
Velusamy SK,
Markowitz K,
Fine DH,
Velliyagounder K
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/odi.12401
Subject(s) - streptococcus mutans , lactoferrin , knockout mouse , microbiology and biotechnology , colonization , biology , chemistry , medicine , bacteria , biochemistry , receptor , genetics
Objectives The objective of this study is to evaluate the importance of human lactoferrin ( hLF ) in an experimental caries induced by Streptococcus mutans in a lactoferrin‐knockout ( LFKO −/− ) mouse model compared with C576J/ BL wild‐type ( WT ) mice. Materials and Methods The WT and LFKO −/− mice were infected with S. mutans (1 × 10 8 cells) and/or sham infection. Furthermore, the effect of hLF administration was evaluated in LFKO −/− mice infected with S. mutans . Mice were assessed for colonization, salivary pH , and caries development. Results The results showed that the lactoferrin‐knockout infected ( LFKO −/− I) mice had significantly higher colonization with S. mutans ( P = 0.02), lower salivary pH ( P = 0.01), and more carious lesions ( P = 0.01) when compared to wild‐type infected ( WTI ) mice. In addition, the administration of hLF did not show any evidence of S. mutans colonization as well as carious lesions ( P = 0.001) in LFKO −/− I mice when compared to untreated LFKO −/− I mice. Conclusion These results show that endogenous LF protects against S. mutans ‐induced caries and that exogenous hLF can exert a protective effect against caries development.