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Oral and Dental Infectious Diseases: Molecular Pathology, Diagnosis and Therapy

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2024) | Viewed by 5663

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hiromichi Yumoto

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Guest Editor

Department of Periodontology and Endodontology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770-8504, Japan
Interests: periodontitis; pulpitis; biofilm; dentistry; inflammation; diabetes mellitus; microbiology; pharmacology; Porphyromonas gingivalis; oral disease; oral microbes

Prof. Dr. Keiji Murakami

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Guest Editor

Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Health Science and Technology, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, 288 Matsushima, Kurashiki 701-0193, Japan
Interests: microbiology; infectious diseases; biofilm; mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and tolerance; quorum sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As homes to over 700 microbial species, the oral cavity and pharynx are thought to be reservoirs for bacterial infections. Almost all oral microorganisms are considered non-pathogenic opportunistic commensals supporting the maintenance of oral health condition and defending against pathogenic microorganisms. However, various oral infectious diseases, such as dental caries and periodontitis, are caused by oral biofilms formed by oral bacterial flora. Recently, oral infections have been found to be associated with widespread life-threatening systemic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, arteriosclerotic vascular diseases, infective endocarditis, cancer, kidney disease, and purulent infections, and have attracted increasing attention. Therefore, detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of oral microbial pathogenicity, the identification of biomarkers useful in both diagnosis/prognosis and the development of novel preventive strategies/therapies against oral infections are much expected. This Special Issue welcomes original research articles as well as new perspectives or reviews on these matters.

Prof. Dr. Hiromichi Yumoto
Prof. Dr. Keiji Murakami
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

oral
dental
periodontitis
tooth decay
periodontal diseases
gingivitis
oral microorganism
oral infections
dental infections
dental caries
microbial pathogenicity
Porphyromonas gingivalis
antimicrobials
oral biofilm

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Real-Time PCR Method as Diagnostic Tool for Detection of Periodontal Pathogens in Patients with Periodontitis

by Sendi Kuret, Nina Kalajzic, Matija Ruzdjak, Blaženka Grahovac, Marina Adriana Jezina Buselic, Sanda Sardelić, Anja Delic, Lana Susak and Davorka Sutlovic

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(10), 5097; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25105097 - 7 May 2024

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Abstract

The most common type of periodontal disease is chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory condition caused by pathogenic bacteria in subgingival plaque. The aim of our study was the development of a real-time PCR test as a diagnostic tool for the detection and differentiation of five periodontopathogenic bacteria, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Prevotella intermedia, and Treponema denticola, in patients with periodontitis. We compared the results of our in-house method with the micro-IDent^® semiquantitative commercially available test based on the PCR hybridization method. DNA was isolated from subgingival plaque samples taken from 50 patients and then analyzed by both methods. Comparing the results of the two methods, they show a specificity of 100% for all bacteria. The sensitivity for A. actinomycetemcomitans was 97.5%, for P. gingivalis 96.88%, and for P. intermedia 95.24%. The sensitivity for Tannerella forsythia and T. denticola was 100%. The Spearman correlation factor of two different measurements was 0.976 for A. actinomycetemcomitans, 0.967 for P. gingivalis, 0.949 for P. intermedia, 0.966 for Tannerella forsythia, and 0.917 for T. denticola. In conclusion, the in-house real-time PCR method developed in our laboratory can provide information about relative amount of five bacterial species present in subgingival plaque in patients with periodontitis. It is likely that such a test could be used in dental diagnostics in assessing the efficacy of any treatment to reduce the bacterial burden. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral and Dental Infectious Diseases: Molecular Pathology, Diagnosis and Therapy)

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17 pages, 4527 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Inhibitory Effect of Adsorption of Streptococcus mutans onto Scallop-Derived Hydroxyapatite

by Momoko Usuda, Mariko Kametani, Masakazu Hamada, Yuto Suehiro, Saaya Matayoshi, Rena Okawa, Shuhei Naka, Michiyo Matsumoto-Nakano, Tatsuya Akitomo, Chieko Mitsuhata, Kazuya Koumoto, Keiko Kawauchi, Takahito Nishikata, Masatoshi Yagi, Toshiro Mizoguchi, Koki Fujikawa, Taizo Taniguchi, Kazuhiko Nakano and Ryota Nomura

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(14), 11371; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411371 - 12 Jul 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1368

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite adsorbs various substances, but little is known about the effects on oral bacteria of adsorption onto hydroxyapatite derived from scallop shells. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of adsorption of Streptococcus mutans onto scallop-derived hydroxyapatite. When scallop-derived hydroxyapatite was mixed with S. mutans, a high proportion of the bacterial cells adsorbed onto the hydroxyapatite in a time-dependent manner. An RNA sequencing analysis of S. mutans adsorbed onto hydroxyapatite showed that the upregulation of genes resulted in abnormalities in pathways involved in glycogen and histidine metabolism and biosynthesis compared with cells in the absence of hydroxyapatite. S. mutans adsorbed onto hydroxyapatite was not killed, but the growth of the bacteria was inhibited. Electron microscopy showed morphological changes in S. mutans cells adsorbed onto hydroxyapatite. Our results suggest that hydroxyapatite derived from scallop shells showed a high adsorption ability for S. mutans. This hydroxyapatite also caused changes in gene expression related to the metabolic and biosynthetic processes, including the glycogen and histidine of S. mutans, which may result in a morphological change in the surface layer and the inhibition of the growth of the bacteria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral and Dental Infectious Diseases: Molecular Pathology, Diagnosis and Therapy)

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11 pages, 2216 KiB

Open AccessArticle

MiR-424/TGIF2-Mediated Pro-Fibrogenic Responses in Oral Submucous Fibrosis

by Ming-Yung Chou, Pei-Ling Hsieh, Shih-Chi Chao, Yi-Wen Liao, Cheng-Chia Yu and Chang-Yi Tsai

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(6), 5811; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065811 - 18 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1609

Abstract

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) has been recognized as a potentially malignant disorder and is characterized by inflammation and the deposition of collagen. Among various regulators of fibrogenesis, microRNAs (miR) have received great attention but the detailed mechanisms underlying the miR-mediated modulations remain largely unknown. Here, we showed that miR-424 was aberrantly overexpressed in OSF tissues, and then we assessed its functional role in the maintenance of myofibroblast characteristics. Our results demonstrated that the suppression of miR-424 markedly reduced various myofibroblast activities (such as collagen contractility and migration ability) and downregulated the expression of fibrosis markers. Moreover, we showed that miR-424 exerted this pro-fibrosis property via direct binding to TGIF2, an endogenous repressor of the TGF-β signaling. In addition, our findings indicated that overexpression of miR-424 activated the TGF-β/Smad pathway, leading to enhanced myofibroblast activities. Altogether, our data revealed how miR-424 contributed to myofibroblast transdifferentiation, and targeting the miR-424/TGIF2 axis may be a viable direction for achieving satisfactory results from OSF treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral and Dental Infectious Diseases: Molecular Pathology, Diagnosis and Therapy)

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Review

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12 pages, 699 KiB

Open AccessReview

Periodontitis Disease in Farmed Ruminants—Current State of Research

by Arkadiusz Grzeczka, Marianna Lech, Gracjan Wozniak, Szymon Graczyk, Pawel Kordowitzki, Małgorzata Olejnik, Marek Gehrke and Jędrzej Maria Jaśkowski

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(11), 9763; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119763 - 5 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1557

Abstract

Periodontal disease in ruminants is common and occurs in farmed and wild animals. Periodontal lesions can result from the secretion of endotoxins by pathogenic bacteria and as consequences of immune system activity. Three main types of periodontitis have been described. The first is chronic inflammation involving mainly premolars and molars—periodontitis (PD). The second type is an acute inflammatory reaction occurring with calcification of the periosteum of the jawbone and swelling of the surrounding soft tissues (Cara inchada, CI—“swollen face”). Finally, a third type, similar to the first but located in the incisor area, is called “broken mouth” (BM). Etiological variation between the different types of periodontitis is indicated. This particularly manifests in the composition of the microbiome, which is characteristic of the different forms of periodontitis. The widespread detection of lesions has drawn attention to the current nature of the problem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral and Dental Infectious Diseases: Molecular Pathology, Diagnosis and Therapy)

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