Are Gram Negative Microbes Producing Odoriferous Compounds Friends or Foes to Humans?

Abstract

Gram negative microorganisms produce volatile sulphur compounds widely implicated in the production of malodour and destruction of various human tissues. However, the volatile sulphur compounds have also been found to be beneficial in the regulation of many processes in the human system. It is important to have a good knowledge of the effect the volatile sulphur compounds on human tissues, especially since a number of treatment protocols for the management of oral malodour have been hinged on the reduction in the concentration of these odoriferous gases. This review is therefore to outline how much of a friend or foe the odoriferous volatile sulphur compounds, produced by oral microbials, are to humans.