This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Loesche, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Hockett, R. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Loesche, W. J.
Right arrow Articles by Hockett, R. N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infect Immun. 1974 February; 9(2): 329-336
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Collagenolytic Activity of Dental Plaque Associated with Periodontal Pathology

W. J. Loesche, K. U. Paunio, M. P. Woolfolk and R. N. Hockett

1 Dental Research Institute and Department of Oral Biology, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

ABSTRACT

Certain dental plaques, removed from sites of gingival and periodontal pathology in mentally retarded, institutionalized individuals, when incubated in phosphate buffer with Achilles tendon collagen, gave rise to an increase in ninhydrin-positive material. These plaques, while showing great variability, released significantly more ninhydrin-positive material per milligram of plaque (wet weight) than did either the endogenous or heat-treated controls. Certain plaques could also break down soluble, tritiated, labeled collagen isolated from the calvaria of chicken embryos. Bacteroides melaninogenicus and Clostridia histolyticum were found in plaques by either fluorescent antibody or cultural methods. C. histolyticum, when detected, accounted for about 0.01 to 0.1% of the bacteria in plaque. A conspicuous isolate from some plaques was a Bacillus species which rapidly liquefied gelatin. Cell-free supernatants of this organism were able to degrade about 50 to 70% of the soluble collagen when incubated at 36 C. C. histolyticum ATCC 8034 caused an 80% degradation of the collagen under the same conditions of incubation. The Bacillus strains were facultative, could ferment glucose, reduced nitrate to nitrite, and were catalase, indole, and urease negative. The limited taxonomic information for the isolates is compatible with the description given for Bacillus cereus.

Infect Immun. 1974 February; 9(2): 329-336
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Dahlen, G., Wikstrom, M., Moller, A. (1983). Production of Histolytic Enzymes by a Combination of Oral Bacteria with Known Pathogenicity. JDR 62: 1041-1044 [Abstract]  
  • Golub, L. M., Siegel, K., Ramamurthy, N.S., Mandel, I. D. (1976). Some Characteristics of Collagenase Activity in Gingival Crevicular Fluid and Its Relationship to Gingival Diseases in Humans. JDR 55: 1049-1057 [Abstract]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»