INHIBITION OF ORAL BACTERIA BY PHENOLIC-COMPOUNDS - PART 1 - QSAR ANALYSIS USING MOLECULAR CONNECTIVITY

Minimal inhibitory concentrations towards three oral bacteria were det ermined for a large (>100) number of structurally diverse phenols and related compounds. Inspection of these data suggests phenolic recognit ion sites in which ligand binding is dominated by hydrophobic interact ions, with lesser contributions from steric factors and hydrogen bondi ng. This interpretation is supported by structure-bioactivity correlat ion equations obtained for Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus sobrinus using molecular connectivity descriptors, but not for Selenom onas artemidis. ''Classical'' molecular connectivity indices cannot ad equately account for the growth-inhibitory properties of phenols towar ds the latter bacterium.