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“Protecting the health and informed consent rights of
children since 1982.” =============================================
Tuesday September 04 02:36 AM EDT
Cavity Fighters Uncover New Weapon
HealthScoutNews Reporter
MONDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthScoutNews) -- American researchers
working on a vaccine to prevent tooth decay in children have found a new
antigen that creates a stronger immune response than many previously tested
ones.
The antigen, discovered by a research team at The Forsyth
Institute in Boston, is a key component in a new vaccine formulation that can
be squirted in the nose, rather than injected or swallowed like some other
vaccines. The vaccine has proved effective in pre-clinical trials.
Antigens are proteins not normally present in the body
that stimulate the body to produce antibodies.
“What we are trying to do is create in the oral cavity,
especially the saliva, an immune response which will prevent those bacteria
which cause tooth decay from gaining a foothold and colonizing the oral cavity,”
says Daniel Smith, one of the research team leaders and a senior staff member
at Forsyth.
“So we’re not strengthening the tooth enamel. What we are
doing is preventing either the action or the colonization of the tooth
decay-causing bacteria on the tooth surface,” he explains.
The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health
calls tooth decay the most chronic childhood disease. It’s five times more
common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever in children.
Tooth decay occurs when microorganisms accumulate on the
teeth, particularly in the presence of sugar. These microorganisms, mutans
streptococci bacteria, produce lactic acid, a product of sugar metabolism,
which causes tooth enamel to erode.
The new vaccine works by stimulating immunity to the
mutans streptococcal enzyme, which is responsible for the accumulation of
mutans bacteria on teeth.
The antibody created by the vaccine binds to the enzyme,
deactivates it and prevents it from making the sticky substance that cause
bacteria to bind to each other and accumulate on the tooth surface, Smith says.
The new antigen is composed of a combination of peptide
constructs taken from the mutans enzyme and is more effective at stimulating
immunity than other individual peptide antigens, the researchers say. Peptides
are molecules that are structurally like proteins, but smaller. They include many
hormones, antibodies and other compounds involved in the metabolic function of
living organisms.
The new antigen was reported in a recent issue of the
Infection and Immunity journal.
Forsyth researchers have received government approval for
clinical trials and are now seeking support or partners to produce the vaccine.
A vaccine for tooth decay is being pursued by a number of
scientists worldwide, Smith says. Forsyth researchers are investigating many
different aspects, including trying to determine the best time to administer
such a vaccine to children.
“We found that within a few weeks of life, children are
beginning to form antibodies to bacteria that they came in contact with in food
items,” Smith says.
“As we followed that, we were able to conclude that a
vaccine for tooth decay could, in fact, have the potential to give a protective
immune response if given at 1 year of age or 18 months of age,” he adds.
And that’s important, he notes, because the bacteria that
cause tooth decay colonize the teeth in kids who are between 18 months and 36
months of age. “The idea is, like any
other vaccine therapy, to give the vaccine before the bacteria colonizes the
person,” he says.
But it likely wouldn’t be a one-shot deal. The vaccine
would be needed again when a child’s permanent teeth begin to appear, Smith
adds.
Until clinical trials are done, it’s too soon to say
whether this new antigen will produce an effective tooth-decay vaccine, says
Dr. Kenneth Burrell, senior director of the American Dental Association’s
council on scientific affairs.
“People have been trying to develop vaccines for at least
20 years,” he says.
There have been many notices about tooth-decay vaccines
going to clinical trials, Burrell says.
“I’m skeptical because of the past experience with this—hearing
so many announcements and never getting follow-up on them,” he adds.
Both Smith and Burrell say that, contrary to what many
people think, tooth decay is an important public health issue in the United
States.
The Surgeon General’s report also says that more than half
the children between the ages of 5 and 9 have at least one cavity or filling,
and that increases to 78 percent of all 17 year olds. Poor children suffer
twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers, but are less likely to
be treated.
Another finding in the report is that 25 percent of poor
children haven’t seen a dentist by the time they start kindergarten.
For more information about dental care, go to the American
Dental Association, or the virtual office of the U.S. Surgeon General.
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