EVALUATING SOME OF ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES IN SALIVA OF CHILDREN WITH EARLY AND SEVERE EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES

Introduction: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) provide a first line of defenseagainst a wide spectrum of pathogens. Their availability in un-stimulated salivaimplies their potential role in protecting tooth structure from bacterially inducedcaries. So, the presence of AMPs in saliva may be a biological factor that contributesto susceptibility or resistance to caries. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate some ofAMPs in saliva cathelicidin (LL-37), Human β defensin-2 (HβD-2) and histatin-5(HTN-5) in three groups of children with caries free, early and severe early childhoodcaries (S-ECC). Material and Methods: A 42 apparently healthy children aged from3-5 years of both sexes. According to dmfs index the selected children were dividedinto three groups. Un-stimulated saliva was collected from children for measuring theconcentrations of (LL-37), (HβD-2) and (HTN-5) by ELISA test. Results: Salivaryconcentration of HβD-2 and LL-37 did not differ in the three groups. There was astatistically significant difference of HTN-5 in the three groups. Data showed that, dmfswere positive correlated with HβD-2 and LL-37 and negative correlated with HTN-5.Conclusion: The lower levels of HTN-5 might associate with S-ECC, but salivaryconcentrations of HβD-2 and LL-37 might not associate with the severity of dentalcaries, so it is not possible to conclude that these AMPs levels in saliva can be used ascaries risk predictors in children