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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Robust Ligature-Induced Model of Murine Periodontitis for the Evaluation of Oral Neutrophils
Published on: January 21, 2020
Human lactoferrin protects against Streptococcus mutans-induced caries in mice
S K Velusamy1, K Markowitz1, D H Fine1
1RUTGERS School of Dental Medicine, Newark, NJ, USA.
Objectives:
The objective of this study is to evaluate the importance of human lactoferrin (hLF) in an experimental caries induced by Streptococcus mutans in a lactoferrin-knockout (LFKO(-/-)) mouse model compared with C576J/BL wild-type (WT) mice.
Materials And Methods:
The WT and LFKO(-/-) mice were infected with S. mutans (1 × 10(8) cells) and/or sham infection. Furthermore, the effect of hLF administration was evaluated in LFKO(-/-) mice infected with S. mutans. Mice were assessed for colonization, salivary pH, and caries development.
Results:
The results showed that the lactoferrin-knockout infected (LFKO(-/-) I) mice had significantly higher colonization with S. mutans (P = 0.02), lower salivary pH (P = 0.01), and more carious lesions (P = 0.01) when compared to wild-type infected (WTI) mice. In addition, the administration of hLF did not show any evidence of S. mutans colonization as well as carious lesions (P = 0.001) in LFKO(-/-) I mice when compared to untreated LFKO(-/-) I mice.
Conclusion:
These results show that endogenous LF protects against S. mutans-induced caries and that exogenous hLF can exert a protective effect against caries development.
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