ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: (i) To compare the prevalence and levels of Capnocytophaga, a known systemic pathogen in immunocompromised patients, in the dental plaque of healthy children and children with cancer, and (ii) to determine the susceptibility of strains isolated from cancer patients to a range of antibiotics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-one children with cancer undergoing a first course of immunosuppressive chemotherapy and 30 healthy control children were included in the study. Samples were collected on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 of the cure (and equivalent dates in controls). Susceptibility to antibiotics was tested using an agar dilution method and galleries with predefined concentrations of selected antibiotics. RESULTS: There was a significant drop in the total anaerobic cultivable flora on day 14 and in the prevalence of Capnocytophaga on days 14 and 21 in the children with cancer. The proportion of Capnocytophaga in the anaerobic flora, however, was high in certain cancer patients. Beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations, imipenem, clindamycin, and tetracycline were the most effective against Capnocytophaga. CONCLUSION: This study showed that Capnocytophaga decreased in prevalence and proportion in the dental plaque of cancer patients during chemotherapy but became predominant in some cases. It is recommended that imipenem or beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations be used to treat Capnocytophaga bacteraemia.
Subject(s)
Capnocytophaga/drug effects , Dental Plaque/microbiology , Immunocompromised Host , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy , Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/drug therapy , Adolescent , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use , Capnocytophaga/isolation & purification , Case-Control Studies , Chi-Square Distribution , Child , Child, Preschool , Colony Count, Microbial , Drug Resistance , Female , Humans , Lymphoma/drug therapy , Male , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Statistics, Nonparametric , Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination/pharmacology , Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Septic peri-implantitis is the main clinical complication encountered following the insertion of titanium implants. It may be resistant to conventional antibiotic treatments. Reports in the literature about antibiotic behavior in the presence of titanium remain controversial. They vary from a bacteriostat to a decreased effect of antibiotic. This study examined, in vitro, the viability of Porphyromonas gingivalis, frequently associated with periodontal diseases, in the presence of titanium and antibiotics (spiramycin and metronidazole alone or in combination). Viability of P. gingivalis was determined, versus a standard curve using the Live/dead Baclight Bacteria Viability Kit on 96 well microplates. The results of 48 experiments (60 measurements each) were compiled in a database and compared to each other using the chi2p < 0.05 test. When used alone, titanium enhanced bacterial growth as the nickel-chrome control. However, when titanium was used in the presence of antibiotics, antibiotics kept their own effects. Even more, titanium was shown to potentialize the effect of metronidazole. The strengthening of effectiveness of metronidazole by titanium may be due to the oxidation potential of the metal. This chemical property could explain the conflicting data reported in the literature.
