THE ROLE OF ACIDITY OF SALIVA IN THE NUTRITION OF ORAL ACIDOGENS

¹ Zoller Memorial Clinic and the Department of Biochemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

1. Saliva incubated in the presence of toluene or acid furnishes a mixture of amino acids and/or peptides sufficient to fulfill the amino acid requirements of L. casei.

2. Reconstituted saliva and saliva collected after treatment with antibiotics show a considerable drop in amino acid production coincident with the almost complete absence of bacteria.

3. The relevance of these findings to the localization and propagation of the carious lesion and to the ecology of acidogenic organisms in the mouth is discussed.