Differential activation of human neutrophils by Streptococcus mutans isolates from root surface lesions and caries-free and caries-active subjects.

Phagocytosis of bacterial pathogens is an important defense mechanism and may contribute to regulating Streptococcus mutans-induced dental caries, particularly at root surfaces. This study was undertaken to examine and compare differences in polymorphonuclear leukocyte or neutrophil activation by clinical isolates of S. mutans collected from the saliva of caries-free or caries-active individuals with S. mutans isolates from root surface lesions. S. mutans clinical isolates (5 caries-free, 5 caries-active, 5 root caries isolates and a laboratory strain) were incubated with neutrophils in the presence of normal human serum and the luminol dependent chemiluminescence was measured for 1 h at 37 degrees C. Results indicated that the caries active and laboratory strains activated neutrophils equally. The mean integration stimulated by caries-free strains, however, displayed a 25-30% enhanced neutrophil activation over the caries-active and laboratory strains. In contrast, neutrophil activation by root caries strains of S. mutans was 45-50% lower than all other S. mutans strains, possibly suggesting a natural selection for S. mutans strains that can evade neutrophil recognition and subsequent phagocytosis. Stimulation of neutrophils with the cell wall and membrane surface component preparations indicated that extracts from all four groups activated neutrophils significantly. Again, caries-free preparations activated neutrophils significantly more than caries active, laboratory strain and root caries isolates. This selection may become more important on root surfaces due to increased exposure to crevicular fluid and neutrophils. The data provide evidence for the presence or onset of mechanisms or biological alterations in S. mutans developed to circumvent neutrophil recognition and/or phagocytosis, thus increasing S. mutans survival and colonization on tooth surfaces, resulting in an enhanced risk of dental caries, particularly at root surfaces.

Influence of heat inactivation of human serum on the opsonization of Streptococcus mutans.

Phagocytosis of bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans, is important to host defense. One mechanism by which phagocytosis can be enhanced is by antibody or complement-mediated opsonization of bacteria. Many studies utilize opsonization of bacteria to enhance a cellular response, but little information has been found examining methodology or validity of the opsonization process following the denaturization of the serum. Human serum was inactivated by heat in order to disrupt the classical and alternative pathways of the complement cascade. S. mutans isolated from human subjects were opsonized with heat-inactivated human serum before exposing them to viable neutrophils in vitro. Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) was used to measure neutrophil activation. Human serum used to opsonize the bacteria was denatured by incubation at 57 degrees C for intervals of 30 and 60 min to inactivate complement. The results from the opsonization data indicated that there was significantly increased CL with 60-min inactivation of the serum (34% increase in mean integration mV.min; p < or = 0.05) over the nonopsonized control. This indicated a successful opsonization of the bacteria. In addition, the data demonstrate that the inactivation of serum requires a minimum of 60 min at 57 degrees C to disrupt the complement cascade, while 30- and 15-min inactivations produced no significant increase in CL activity over the control. Standard sandwich ELISA assays, detecting complement binding to S. mutans, confirmed successful heat inactivation of serum showing a significant decrease (p < or = 0.001) in complement binding to S. mutans after 30 min, but could not explain the increased CL response after 60-min heat deactivation of the serum.

Activation of the neutrophil respiratory burst requires both intracellular and extracellular calcium.

Activation of neutrophil oxidases, including NADPH oxidase, is Ca2+ dependent. The aim of this study was to determine the roles of intra- and extracellular Ca2+, leading to generation of the respiratory burst, as monitored by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL). All results were recorded as integrals (millivolt.min) and compared by a two-tail Student's t test. Preincubation of cells with chelators of intra- or extracellular Ca2+ inhibited N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (FMLP)-stimulated burst activity (p < 0.01). In contrast, stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), while inhibited by extracellular Ca2+ chelation with EGTA (p < 0.001), was potentiated by intracellular Ca2+ chelation with BAPTA (p < 0.01). This suggests that the protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated burst may be diminished by intracellular Ca(2+)-dependent phosphatase. A selective inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatase, sodium vanadate, potentiated CL generation by both FMLP and PMA, indicating a dominant phosphatase activation with transiently increased Ca2+, masking the kinase-mediated respiratory burst. The selective inhibitors of PKC or tyrosine kinase prevented PMA and vanadate/PMA stimulation (p < 0.005). Furthermore, the putative Ca2+ channel agonists glutamate (10(-5)M) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) (10(-5)M) alone failed to influence CL output, but produced marked potentiation following pre-treatment with vanadate. Again this indicates a dominant activation of phosphatase triggered by the glutamate-mediated Ca2+ influx, so masking the kinase-dependent NADPH oxidase activity. A competitive antagonist of NMDA, AP7, significantly decreased vanadate-mediated CL in an EGTA-sensitive manner (p < 0.001). The data confirm a requirement for intra- and extracellular Ca2+ in neutrophil respiratory burst activation via the kinase/phosphatase cycle, and an agonist effect by NMDA within the Ca2+ cascade mechanism.