Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Nov 15;16(11):e73758.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.73758. eCollection 2024 Nov.

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Peptides in Saliva as Potential Therapeutic Agents Against Oral Pathogens in Pakistan

Rabia Asad  1 , Muhammad Asif Shahzad  2 , Sana Knawal  3 , Shaher Bano  4 , Mariyah Javed  4 , Ammara Anwar  5 , Syed Shahab Ud Din Shah  6
Affiliations

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Peptides in Saliva as Potential Therapeutic Agents Against Oral Pathogens in Pakistan

Rabia Asad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: Maintaining optimal oral health is essential for overall well-being; however, conditions such as dental caries and gingivitis remain prevalent in Pakistan and are further worsened by increasing antibiotic resistance.

Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial properties of salivary peptides as potential therapeutic agents against common oral pathogens in Pakistan.

Methodology: A one-year cross-sectional study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan, at Sharif Medical and Dental College and Akhter Saeed Medical and Dental College, involving 384 participants aged 18-65 years. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to isolate antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from oral swabs and saliva samples. Using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent test (ELISA), the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of histatin, defensin, and cathelicidin against Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans was determined. T-tests and other statistical analyses were used to assess the significance of the results across demographic variables.

Results: There were 210 men (54.69%) and 174 women (45.31%) in the participation group. A total of 298 individuals (77.60%) did not smoke, while 221 participants (57.56%) said they brushed their teeth every day. Moreover, 198 individuals (51.56%) had oral infections with S. mutans alone, 71 participants (18.49%) had oral pathogens with C. albicans alone, and 52 people (13.54%) had both. Histatin of 8.09 ± 2.13 µg/mL, defensin of 7.83 ± 2.31 µg/mL, and cathelicidin of 6.19 ± 1.57 µg/mL were the MIC values for salivary AMPs against S. mutans. MIC values for histatin, defensin, and cathelicidin against C. albicans were 10.57 ± 1.82 µg/mL, 9.01 ± 2.03 µg/mL, and 7.42 ± 1.73 µg/mL, respectively. Males had higher MIC values than females, and there were significant variations according to smoking status (p < 0.05) and age (p < 0.05), suggesting that smokers had lower AMP effectiveness.

Conclusion: Salivary AMPs, particularly histatin, defensin, and cathelicidin, demonstrate strong potential as therapeutic alternatives against oral infections such as dental caries and gingivitis, suggesting a promising strategy to mitigate antibiotic resistance in Pakistan. Further research is needed to explore their application in clinical practice.

Keywords: antimicrobial peptides; oral health; oral pathogens; pakistan; salivary peptides; therapeutic agent.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College issued approval 61-AMDC/ADM/2022; date: February 11, 2022. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Oral health and quality of life: current concepts. Baiju RM, Peter E, Varghese NO, Sivaram R. J Clin Diagn Res. 2017;11:0–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Prevalence of odontogenic infections and their risk factors among the general population of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Anwar K, Irfan N, Arain MI, Shahnaz S. Professional Med J. 2019;26:1931–1936.
    1. Factors responsible for dental caries among patients and its management. Jaffar S, Taj MK, Hassani IT, et al. PJMLS. 2021;4:0–209.
    1. The oral microbiome in health and its implication in oral and systemic diseases. Sampaio-Maia B, Caldas IM, Pereira ML, Pérez-Mongiovi D, Araujo R. Adv Appl Microbiol. 2016;97:171–210. - PubMed
    1. The current novel drug delivery system (natural and chemical composites) in dental infections for antibiotics resistance: a narrative review. Tahmasebi E, Kaboudanian Ardestani A, Hassani Z, et al. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand) 2022;68:141–160. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources