Milk Lactoperoxidase System and Lactoperoxidase Enzyme on the Potential of Streptococcus Mutans in Children’s Saliva

Abstract

Lactoperoxidase is a subset of peroxidase, a group of natural enzymes that exist in human saliva. Other than the saliva, these enzymes could also be found in dairy products. The lactoperoxidase enzyme in milk has antibacterial effect, so can greatly reduce the number of viable Streptococcus mutans. Early Childhood Caries (ECC) a unique pattern of caries lesions that occur in infants, toddler, and preschoolers characterized by caries on the surface of primary teeth in children un der 6 years.The purpose of this study was to analyze the levels of lactoperoxidase and Streptococcus mutans count in saliva after consuming pasteurized milk and UHT milk. This study was conducted on 30 children aged 3-5 years in Medan city by applying purposive design, whereby two groups were established with 15 subjects consuming pasteurized milk and 15 subjects consuming UHT milk. Saliva collection was conducted either with passive drooling or spitting method prior to consumption, 7 days, and 14 days after consumption. Examination of lactoperoxidase levels was carried out using an ELISA reader. Acquired salivary Streptococcus mutans were planted in TYCSB media and incubated in an anaerobic jar for 2x24 hours followed by calculation of S.mutans. Data were analyzed using univariate tests, generalized linear repeated measured models, and simple linear regression tests. The statistical results showed a significant increment in mean lactoperoxidase levels before consumption to the seventh day after consumption in both groups (p=0.01), despite a non-significant increment between sevent day and fourteenth day (p=0.178). The results presented a significant decline in the number of S. mutans on the seventh day (p = 0.0001), but not significant on the fourteenth day (p = 0.146). Reduction in the average number of Streptococcus mutans was also observed before consumption, the seventh day, and the fourteenth day after consumption of pasteurized milk from 47.93 ± 8.216 to 31.07 ± 10.152 and 11.60 ± 6.501; whereas for the UHT milk group, from 50.60 ± 7.018 to 42.00 ± 6.665 and 27.07 ± 4.183. The consumption of milk with high levels of lactoperoxidase has a remarkable potential in increasing levels of lactoperoxidase and minimizing the number of Streptococcus mutans in saliva as a risk factor for caries. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license-http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 89