Effects of resin composite components on glucosyltransferase of cariogenic bacterium.

The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of resin composite components on glucan synthesis by glucosyltransferase (GTase) derived from a cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus sobrinus B13. The eluates from cured composites stored in 0.05 mol/L potassium phosphate buffer (KPB) (pH 6.8) for 2 weeks at 37 degrees C stimulated the formation of water-insoluble glucan, whereas those from amalgam inhibited it. This finding suggests that the eluates from the resin composites enhance GTase activity and contribute to plaque formation. In the individual resin components, a diglycidyl methacrylate and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate significantly enhanced GTase activity. However, most polymerization inhibitors and accelerators were potent inhibitors of enzyme activity. Thus, GTase stimulation by eluates from resin composites is hypothesized to be heavily dependent on the effect of the eluated resin monomers, even though the other eluting components had inhibitory effects on GTase. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.