New Pathogens for Childhood Caries

描述：严重的儿童早期龋齿对乳牙和恒牙的存活产生负面影响。此外，该疾病可显著损害儿童发育。用于评估导致严重幼儿龋齿（S-ECC）的微生物群的方法存在局限性。特别是，逃避常规培养或无法培养的细菌被忽视了。该应用程序的长期目标是更好地了解龋齿的发病机制。本申请的目的是鉴定幼儿龋齿的微生物病原体。中心假设是，严重和复发性幼儿龋齿是由一个特定的子集的细菌物种是强酸生产者。申请的理由是，它将提供一套全面的物种，可以评估其与复发性疾病的关联，并在未来的研究中，其预测龋齿的能力，并作为目标物种在预防和治疗这种感染的发展。将对患病儿童和健康儿童的微生物群进行鉴定和比较。中心假设将通过两个特定目的进行检验：1）鉴定严重幼儿龋齿的候选细菌病原体。工作假设是，与无龋儿童相比，S-ECC的微生物群富含疾病相关物种。2)确定儿童早期龋齿复发的候选细菌病原体。工作假设是，与无龋儿童和治疗后未出现龋齿复发的S-ECC儿童的微生物群相比，接受严重龋齿治疗的儿童的复发性龋齿微生物群中富含致龋病原体。该创新方法将联合收割机克隆和测序从DNA扩增的细菌16 S rRNA基因与培养方法相结合，以富集和测试分离物的产酸能力。在拟议的研究结束时，预计将确定新的致龋病原体，以及预测严重疾病可能性的微生物学特征。这项研究意义重大，因为它有望提供工具，大大提高我们预测严重和复发性幼儿龋齿发展的能力，并表明哪些物种需要抑制有效治疗。因此，预计这种疾病的许多负面后果将得以避免，牙科和相关医疗费用也随之减少。

DESCRIPTION: Severe early childhood caries negatively affects the survival of the primary and permanent dentitions. Furthermore, the disease can markedly impair child development. There are limitations in methods that have been used to evaluate the microbiota that is responsible for severe early childhood caries (S-ECC). In particular, bacteria that evade routine culture, or have been uncultivable, have been overlooked. The long-term goal of the application is to better understand the pathogenesis of dental caries. The objective of this application is to identify the microbial pathogens of early childhood caries. The central hypothesis is that severe and recurrent early childhood caries is caused by a specific sub-set of bacterial species that are strong acid producers. The rationale for the application is that it will provide a comprehensive set of species that can be evaluated for their association with recurrent disease, and, in future studies, for their ability to predict caries, and as target species in the development of prophylaxis and treatment for this infection. The microbiota of diseased and healthy children will be identified and compared. The central hypothesis will be tested with two Specific Aims: 1) Identify candidate bacterial pathogens for severe early childhood caries. The working hypothesis is that the microbiota of S-ECC is enriched for disease-associated species compared to caries-free children. 2) Identify candidate bacterial pathogens for recurrent early childhood caries. The working hypothesis is that the microbiota of recurrent caries in children treated for severe caries is enriched for cariogenic pathogens compared with the microbiota of caries-free children, and S-ECC children not showing caries recurrence post-therapy. The innovative approach will combine cloning and sequencing bacterial 16S rRNA genes amplified from DNA with cultural methods to enrich for, and test acid producing ability of isolates. At the conclusion of the proposed research, it is expected that new cariogenic pathogens will be identified, and a microbiological profile that will be predictive of the potential for severe disease. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to provide tools to substantially improve our ability to predict the development of severe and recurrent early childhood caries, and indicate which species need suppression for effective therapy. As a result, it is expected that many of the negative consequences of this disease will be avoided, with attendant reductions in the costs of dental and related medical care.