Extracellular Glycoside Hydrolase Activities in the Human Oral Cavity.

Carbohydrate availability shifts when bacteria attach to a surface and form biofilm. When salivary planktonic bacteria form an oral biofilm, a variety of polysaccharides and glycoproteins are the primary carbon sources; however, simple sugar availabilities are limited due to low diffusion from saliva to biofilm. We hypothesized that bacterial glycoside hydrolase (GH) activities would be higher in a biofilm than in saliva in order to maintain metabolism in a low-sugar, high-glycoprotein environment. Salivary bacteria from 13 healthy individuals were used to grow in vitro biofilm using two separate media, one with sucrose and the other limiting carbon sources to a complex carbohydrate. All six GHs measured were higher in vitro when grown in the medium with complex carbohydrate as the sole carbon source. We then collected saliva and overnight dental plaque samples from the same individuals and measured ex vivo activities for the same six enzymes to determine how oral microbial utilization of glycoconjugates shifts between the planktonic phase in saliva and the biofilm phase in overnight dental plaque. Overall higher GH activities were observed in plaque samples, in agreement with in vitro observation. A similar pattern was observed in GH activity profiles between in vitro and ex vivo data. 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that plaque samples had a higher abundance of microorganisms with larger number of GH gene sequences. These results suggest differences in sugar catabolism between the oral bacteria located in the biofilm and those in saliva.

Allyl isothiocyanate from mustard seed is effective in reducing the levels of volatile sulfur compounds responsible for intrinsic oral malodor.

Oral malodor is a major social and psychological issue that affects general populations. Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), particularly hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and methyl mercaptan (CH3SH), are responsible for most oral malodor. The objectives for this study were to determine whether allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) at an organoleptically acceptable level can eliminate VSCs containing a free thiol moiety and further to elucidate the mechanism of action and reaction kinetics. The study revealed that gas chromatograph with a sulfur detector demonstrated a good linearity, high accuracy and sensitivity on analysis of VSCs. Zinc salts eliminate the headspace level of H2S but not CH3SH. AITC eliminates both H2S and CH3SH via a nucleophilic addition reaction. In addition, a chemical structure-activity relationship study revealed that the presence of unsaturated group on the side chain of the isothiocyanate accelerates the elimination of VSCs.