Effect of Lathyrogenic Agents on Dental Caries in the Rat

¹ National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland

The incorporation of 0.020, 0.010, and 0.005 per cent semicarbazide-HCl (SCH) or 0.100, 0.050, and 0.010 per cent -aminopropionitrile (BAPN) into cariogenic Diet 585, which induces sulcal caries in rats, resulted in significantly less caries activity, and in both cases the effect was related to the concentration of the lathyrogenic agent. A different result was obtained when these compounds were tested in Diet 636, which is conducive primarily to smooth-surface lesions. The SCH had no effect on caries activity, but animals that received BAPN developed significantly more active disease. Symptoms of osteolathyrism, including exostoses and malformed mandibular condyles, were seen in animals on the highest concentration of the lathyrogenic agents, SCH and BAPN. Of six other nitriles—cyanoacetic acid, cyanoacetamide, propionitrile, -dimethylamino propionitrile, and ethylene cyanohydrin—only acetonitrile had a slightly inhibitory effect on caries produced on Diet 585 (P < 0.05).