Researchers at Osaka University Japan pointed to a study that shows what bacteria causes bad breath, the study was published in mSystems.
The study described how the interaction amongst two well-known bacteria led to the formation of a chemical composition that is closely related to bad breath.
What causes bad breath
Let’s face it, nobody wants to have bad breath, the principal causes of bad breath happen when bacteria in your mouth digests substances such as food particles and blood.
In terms of the worst smelling of these methyl mercaptan or CH3SH is created when microbes that exist nearby in the teeth and on the tongues surface create methyl mercaptan.
Up until this study was published little was known about the specific species of bacteria that was principally involved in the process.
Metabolite created by bacterium
The scientists that produced the study determined that a metabolite created by the bacterium commensal oral bacterium Streptococcus Gordon triggers an additional species of bacteria into production of the malodorous compound methyl mercaptan.
The additional species of bacteria that produces a metabolite is known as Fuspbacterium nucleated.
Takeshi Hara the lead author in the scientific study declared that in previous studies that looked at CH3SH that produced bad oral bacteria only used isolated enzymes or small amounts of culture volume.
In the Osaka University study Takeshi Hara the lead scientist stated that their aim was to create a more real world environment.
This would allow a more thorough investigation into the production of CH3SH by significant oral bacteria, to find out more about what causes bad breath.
The process to find out more about bad breath
The process to do this involved the researchers developing a large amount in terms of volume anaerobic co-culture structur.
This structure allowed the researchers to be able to gauge interactions between various sets of bacteria that exist in the human mouth.
The structure allowed the researchers to be in a position to evaluate both direct, physical synergies amongst the bacteria.
In addition they could test whether or not these species could have an affect on each other even from some distance, the example given was by secreting active substances.
The results were intriguing
Upon completion of the study to discover what bacteria causes bad breath the senior most author Masae Kuboniwa stated that the results were intriguing.
The research showed that Fusobacterium nucleatum was responsible for producing a large quantity of CH3SH as a direct response to the other oral bacterium Streptococcus gordonii.
The system that was used during the study involved the use of stable isotope tracers to analyse gene expression.
The study proved that S.gordonii does let a substance called ornithine to be released, this release prompts f.nucleatum to make more of the molecule called polyamine.
F.nucleatim cannot produce polyamine without methionine so the heightened production of polyamine activates the methionine salvage channel or path, in turn CH3SHs production is increased.
These findings on what bacteria causes bad breath as stated by Dr Takeshi Hara would suggest that the making of CH3SH in the mouth is primarily driven by interactions between F.nucleatum and S.gordonii.
Conclusion
By being in a position to understand how both bacterial organisms work next to each other to cause bad breath could help in the development of new ways to treat bad breath.
Furthermore, many scientific journals have pointed to the fact that bad breath is very often linked to periodontal disease, by being in a stronger position to treat the symptoms of periodontitis could assist in preventing more serious mouth issues into the future.
References
Bacterial interactions in bad breath identified. Br Dent J 236, 515 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-024-7309-8
