Abstract
Summary
It has been previously reported by others that the growth of lactobacillus in complete growth medium is inhibited by saliva and that a component of the antilacto-bacillus system of saliva is thiocyanate ion. The inhibition of growth of lactobacillus by saliva is decreased by catalase, The heat labile non-dialyzable component of the anti-lactobacillus system of saliva can be replaced by an amount of lactoperoxidase equivalent to the amount present in saliva. This suggests that the antilactobacillus system of saliva contains at least two components, per-oxidase and thiocyanate ions. Iodide at a concentration in excess of that present in saliva can replace thiocyanate in this system.
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