Effects of Salivary Immune Response to Streptococcus mutans on Caries Occurrence and Caries Development in Mice with Autoimmune Disease

抄録

MRL/l strain mice, which possess a lymphoproliferative gene inducing swelling of systemic lymph nodes, develop a SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) -like syndrome at around 8 w of age. MRL/n mice, which carry 99.6 % of the genes of MRL/1 mice, lack the gene for lymphoproliferation and exhibit only a slight degree of lymph node swelling late in life.
This study investigated whether the salivary immune response caused by Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) infection prevented dental caries in MRL/l and MRL/n mice after 8 w of age.
A total of 10 MRL/l mice and 10 MRL/n mice were fed a commercial pellet diet without sucrose until 74 d of age, and then fed Diet 2000 containing 56 % sucrose ad libitum from 75 to 130 d of age.
On d 75, both strains of mice were inoculated with S. mutans JC-2 for 7 d. At 130 d of age, saliva samples were collected and caries scores were assessed.
The results obtained suggested that the salivary immune response was one of the most important factors regulating caries occurrence.