Honeybees and cavities, researchers abuzz

SWEET DISCOVERY--Michel Hyun Koo, University dental researcher, collects samples of the honeybee product propolis, thought to contain cavity-fighting compounds.

entists from the Medical Center and food scientists at State University of Campinas in Brazil have discovered that a substance made by Brazilian honeybees may prove to be a potent anti-cavity agent.

The substance, propolis, is a sticky glue-like material bees make to construct and repair hives. In laboratory tests, the most potent version of the substance, from southern Brazil, cut the cavity rate in rats by nearly 60 percent and significantly slowed the activity of a key enzyme that forms dental plaque.

The link between hive and dental health was first noted by Michel Hyun Koo, postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Oral Biology, who earned his dental degree in Brazil and then decided to study food biochemistry.

"The potential with these natural products is enormous. The bees are doing a great work for human health, by facilitating the identification of compounds with applicability to dental science," says Koo.

Koo came to the Center for Oral Biology at the University to pinpoint the most effective cavity-fighting substances in propolis. During the past two years he has spent thousands of hours in his Rochester laboratory working with William Bowen, Welcher Professor of Dentistry, to study more than 100 compounds in propolis and determine which ones are responsible for the cavity-preventing properties.

Two substances have been identified, both present in the potent propolis made by bees in southern Brazil that seem especially effective. The University and Campinas have filed for patents on the compounds, which target both the bacteria that form cavities as well as the specific enzymes that take part in the process.

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