摘要：Hydrophobic interactions have been considered very important in mediating bacterial adhesion to most oral surfaces. Since information concerning the hydrophobic nature of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is sparse and conflicting, the aim of this study was to evaluate the hydrophobicity of 33 strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans using adherence to xylene. All 33 isolates were found to be hydrophobic. Variation of type of suspension medium and incubation time and repeated subculturing had no effect on hydrophobicity results. These findings confirm earlier suggestions that A. actinomycetemcomitans is hydrophobic and that this property may be important in the adhesion of this organism to oral surfaces.Keywords: Hydrophobicity; A. actinomycetemcomitans; Xylene; Subculture.
