Susceptibilities of oral bacteria and yeast to mammalian cathelicidins

The effects of cathelicidins against oral bacteria and clinically important oral yeasts are not known. We tested the susceptibilities of Actinobacillu s actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Streptococcus sanguis, Candida krusei, Candida tropicalis and Candida albi cans to the following cathelicidins: FALL39, SMAP29, and CAP18. SMAP29 and CAP18 were antimicrobial, whereas FALL39 did not exhibit antimicrobial acti vity. Future studies are needed to determine the potential use of these ant imicrobial peptides in prevention and treatment of oral infections.