Roles of Oral Bacteria in Cardiovascular Diseases — From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Cases:Cell-Surface Structures of Novel Serotype k Streptococcus mutans Strains and Their Correlation to Virulence

Journal of Pharmacological Sciences

Kazuhiko Nakano¹  Takashi Ooshima¹  Michiyo Matsumoto¹  Ryota Nomura¹ 

[1] Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Japan

关键词: Streptococcus mutans;    serotype;    bacteremia;    infective endocarditis;    cell-surface antigen;    oral bacteria;   

DOI  :  10.1254/jphs.09R24FM

学科分类：药学

来源: Nihon Yakuri Gakkai Henshuubu / Japanese Pharmacological Society

【 摘 要 】

References(43)Cited-By(17)Streptococcus mutans is generally known as a pathogen of dental caries, and it is also considered to cause bacteremia and infective endocarditis (IE). S. mutans was previously classified into 3 serotypes, c, e, and f, due to the different chemical compositions of the serotype-specific polysaccharides, which are composed of a rhamnose backbone and glucose side chains. We recently designated non-c/e/f serotype S. mutans strains as novel serotype k, which is characterized by a drastic reduction in the amount of the glucose side chain. A common biological feature of novel serotype-k strains is a lower level of cariogenicity due to alterations of several major cell surface protein antigens. As for virulence in blood, these strains survive in blood for a longer duration due to lower antigenicity, while the detection rate of all strains carrying the gene encoding collagen-binding adhesin has been shown to be high. Furthermore, molecular biological analyses of infected heart valve specimens obtained from IE patients revealed a high detection rate of serotype-k S. mutans. Together, these findings suggest that serotype-k S. mutans strains show low cariogenicity but high virulence in blood as compared to the other serotypes, due to alterations of several cell surface structures.

【 授权许可】

Unknown