Journal of Dental Research, Vol 66, 475-479, Copyright © 1987 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals

ARTICLES

Antimicrobial factors in saliva: ontogeny and relation to oral health

J. Tenovuo, E. Grahn, O. P. Lehtonen, T. Hyyppa, L. Karhuvaara and P. Vilja

Antimicrobial agents (antibody and non-antibody) present in human saliva protect oral tissues by a variety of mechanisms, such as prevention of bacterial adhesion, agglutination of micro-organisms, and inhibition of multiplication and metabolism. However, studies in which the concentrations of various salivary antimicrobial agents have been correlated to the presence and severity of oral diseases--of dental caries, in particular--have produced controversial data, and it seems evident, also on the basis of the present study, that no single salivary antimicrobial factor (except flow rate) affects oral health to a significant degree. In the present study, we report the levels of some selected salivary antimicrobial agents in predentate and dentate human infants, with a comparison to the levels found in young adults' saliva. Salivary lysozyme, peroxidase, and hypothiocyanite concentrations were already at the adult level at the time when the primary teeth erupt, whereas immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, and IgM), lactoferrin, myeloperoxidase, and thiocyanate concentrations were significantly lower in children than in adults. Dentate children had more IgG, thiocyanate, and protein in whole saliva than did predentate children.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Ruhl, S.A. Rayment, G. Schmalz, K.-A. Hiller, and R.F. Troxler Proteins in Whole Saliva during the First Year of Infancy J. Dent. Res., January 1, 2005; 84(1): 29 - 34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Uehara, S. Sugawara, K. Watanabe, S. Echigo, M. Sato, T. Yamaguchi, and H. Takada Constitutive Expression of a Bacterial Pattern Recognition Receptor, CD14, in Human Salivary Glands and Secretion as a Soluble Form in Saliva Clin. Vaccine Immunol., March 1, 2003; 10(2): 286 - 292. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Sugawara, A. Uehara, R. Tamai, and H. Takada Innate immune responses in oral mucosa Innate Immunity, December 1, 2002; 8(6): 465 - 468. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Marcotte and M. C. Lavoie Oral Microbial Ecology and the Role of Salivary Immunoglobulin A Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., March 1, 1998; 62(1): 71 - 109. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]