[The adhesion of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans to oral epithelial cells]

Adherence is a major pathogenicity factor for many bacteria. The aim of this study was to measure the adherence potential of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.) for buccal epithelial cells (BEC). In the second part of the study, the inhibitory potential of saliva on adherence between A.a. and BEC was tested. Saliva specimens were obtained from three groups of subjects: a group of normal subjects (NS), a group of subject with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJPS) and a group of subjects with adult periodontitis (APS). Clinical strains of A.a. showed a major adherence potential for BEC (25.5 A.a./BEC). In contrast, reference strains of bacteria appeared to possess a much lower potential for adherence (12.6 A.a./BEC). Saliva samples taken from from the LJPS and APS group had a high inhibitory adherence potential, since in each of these groups a reduction of 60.9% and 66.7% respectively, was observed in the number of bacteria adhering to BEC.