Phenotype and Genotype of Enterococcus faecalis Isolated form Root Canal and Saliva of Primary Endodontic Patients

This study was carried out to investigate the phenotype and genotype of E. faecalis isolated from the root canal and saliva of primary endodontic patients with periapical lesions. Eighteen adult male and female individuals suffering from primary endodontic infection, either had or had not periapical lesions, were involved in this study. Root canal scraping and saliva were collected from each subject and used for bacterial quantitation using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Enterococci were isolated using ChromAgar medium and then identified using both biochemical (Gram staining and catalase tests) and molecular biology (conventional PCR) methods. Gelatinase activity, polysaccharide capsul profile and mRNA ace expression level were determined using microbiological, biochemical and molecular biology approach, respectively. Genotype of E. faecalis was determined based on nucleotide sequence of ace and gelE genes analyzed using web-based 3730xl DNA Analyze software. The results showed that high proportion of E. faecalis found in both root canal and saliva of is related to the incidence of periapical lessions in the primary endodontic patients. This is contrast to the insignificant relationship found between Cps polymorphism, gelatinase activity, and mRNA ace expression with periapical lesions in the patients, respectively.