Journal of Pharmacological Sciences
Online ISSN : 1347-8648
Print ISSN : 1347-8613
ISSN-L : 1347-8613
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Roles of Oral Bacteria in Cardiovascular Diseases — From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Cases: Cell-Surface Structures of Novel Serotype k Streptococcus mutans Strains and Their Correlation to Virulence
Kazuhiko NakanoRyota NomuraMichiyo MatsumotoTakashi Ooshima
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2010 Volume 113 Issue 2 Pages 120-125

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Abstract

Streptococcus mutans is generally known as a pathogen of dental caries, and it is also considered to cause bacteremia and infective endocarditis (IE). S. mutans was previously classified into 3 serotypes, c, e, and f, due to the different chemical compositions of the serotype-specific polysaccharides, which are composed of a rhamnose backbone and glucose side chains. We recently designated non-c/e/f serotype S. mutans strains as novel serotype k, which is characterized by a drastic reduction in the amount of the glucose side chain. A common biological feature of novel serotype-k strains is a lower level of cariogenicity due to alterations of several major cell surface protein antigens. As for virulence in blood, these strains survive in blood for a longer duration due to lower antigenicity, while the detection rate of all strains carrying the gene encoding collagen-binding adhesin has been shown to be high. Furthermore, molecular biological analyses of infected heart valve specimens obtained from IE patients revealed a high detection rate of serotype-k S. mutans. Together, these findings suggest that serotype-k S. mutans strains show low cariogenicity but high virulence in blood as compared to the other serotypes, due to alterations of several cell surface structures.

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© The Japanese Pharmacological Society 2010
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