Future management and possible treatment of halitosis

Abstract

Halitosis is caused by the release of volatile sulfur compounds. Today, we find endless products in the market that provide long lasting, fresh and minty breath. But how do these products work against halitosis, and a more important question is how effective are they?

To discover a possible management, treatment or even cure of halitosis we need to know the causes. Here we focused on oral bacterial species as serious causes that are known to cause halitosis. These bacteria are from different species, genera and families, but they all produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC). These VSC are produced by different enzymes. Inhibiting the activity of these enzymes by a non-toxic compound could help prevent or cure halitosis. Focusing on these related enzymes as targets for inhibitors would be of prime importance for halitosis.

Respective enzymes are proteins encoded by related genes in the genomes of these bacterial species. The main enzymes of focus are: L-cysteine desulfhydrase, methionine gamma-lyase and L-methionine-alpha-deamino-gamma-mercaptomethane-lyase. Comparing the amino acid sequence of the proteins as well as the nucleotide sequence of the corresponding genes is made to study the degree of relatedness (homology) among these enzymes of the different bacteria.