What’s In Your Mouth? A New Mouth Bug
POSTED August 12, 2008 - 11:21 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Sham Kamboj on August 12, 2008 - 11:22
Researchers at the esteemed Dental Institute at King's College London claimed to have discovered a new species of bacteria, known as Prevotella histicola, lurking within the flesh lining the mouth. The findings may lead to a better understanding of oral problems like, tooth decay and gum disease, and may pour in better treatments for the same, a new research assures.
The bug, Prevotella histicola, named by its discoverers, Professor William Wade and his colleagues, is believed to fuel in various oral diseases, apart from infections in other parts of the body.
"The healthy human mouth is home to a tremendous variety of microbes including viruses, fungi, protozoa and bacteria," Professor Wade highlighted.
Emphasizing further, he added, "The bacteria are the most numerous: there are 100 million in every milliliter of salivadefine and more than 600 different species in the mouth. Around half of these have yet to be named and we are trying to describe and name the new species."
While examining healthy tissue as well as tumors in the mouths of participants, Wade and his team came across three strains of Prevotella, which could not be identified.
Renaming the new species, Prevotella to Prevotella histicola, where histicola means 'inhabitant of tissue', found that the new species was isolated from within the oral tissues, both in oral cancers and normal, healthy tissue.
The findings confirmed that oral bacteria could invade both tissues and individual cells, alike, Prof Wade reported in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Typically caused by the changes in the microbes normally present in the mouth, tooth decay and gum disease are the most common bacterial diseases found in humans.
By tracking the changes in the microbial composition in the mouth, health experts can better understand these diseases. Also, the findings from the new research may help pharmaceutical manufactures to develop new medications to treat the diseases better, researchers assure.
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