Anti-cariogenic properties of a water-soluble extract from cacao

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2003 Dec;67(12):2567-73. doi: 10.1271/bbb.67.2567.

Abstract

The addition of a water-soluble extract from cacao-extracted powder (CEPWS) to a cariogenic model food, a white chocolate-like diet that contains 35% sucrose, significantly reduced caries scores in SPF rats infected with Streptococcus sobrinus 6715, compared to control rats fed a white chocolate-like diet. CEPWS markedly inhibited water-insoluble glucan (WIG) synthesis through crude glucosyltransferases (GTFs) from Streptococcus sobrinus B13N in vitro. GTF-inhibitor(s) in CEPWS was prepared through three-step fractionation, and was termed CEPWS-BT, which is a high molecular weight (>10 kDa) heat-stable matrix of sugar, protein, and polyphenol. When the inhibitory effect of CEPWS-BT on glucan synthesis was examined using the purified GTF-I, GTF-T, and GTF-U enzymes from S. sobrinus B13N, significant reduction in GTF-I and GTF-T activity as a result of adding CEPWS-BT at low concentrations was observed. These results suggest that the addition of CEPWS to cariogenic food could be useful in controlling dental caries.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cacao / chemistry*
  • Cacao / metabolism
  • Dental Caries / chemically induced
  • Dental Caries / drug therapy*
  • Dental Caries / microbiology
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Glucans / metabolism*
  • Glucosyltransferases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Glucosyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Models, Animal
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Streptococcus sobrinus / metabolism
  • Sucrose / metabolism

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Glucans
  • Plant Extracts
  • Sucrose
  • Glucosyltransferases