Effect of saliva on the growth of Helicobacter pylori
Morii, H.; Nishizawa, Y.; Miki, T.; Yano, I.; Tatsumi, N.; Higashihata, M.; Shimaoka, M.; Yamaguchi, T.
Osaka City Medical Journal 45(1): 15-23
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0030-6096 PMID: 10723198 Document Number: 506586
The effect of saliva mixed in culture media from young healthy volunteers on the growth of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) was investigated. Saliva was centrifuged at 15,000 rpm for 10 min and the supernatant was mixed with the reference strain of standard H. pylori which was suspended in sterilized physiological saline. The mixture was inoculated onto agar plate and incubated for 3 days. The numbers of colonies were counted. Saliva from a young male volunteer stimulated the growth of H. pylori significantly compared with the control. This result indicates that there may be such individuals who have saliva increasing the growth of H. pylori. But this is the preliminary report and more studies are needed to know what factors in saliva may affect the growth of H. pylori.