Figure 5

Positive and negative correlations between salivary human neutrophil peptide (HNP) 1–3 levels and log counts of lactobacilli (LB) and between log counts of mutans streptococci (MS) and those of LB, respectively, in the probiotic group. The correlation coefficients (r) and the significance levels (p-values) between each pair of three parameters, including HNP1-3 levels in μg/mg, LB counts in log cfu/ml and MS counts in log cfu/ml were determined and illustrated for both control (A, C and E) and probiotic (B, D and F) groups. The regression analysis could be determined only for the significant correlation between increased HNP1-3 levels and increased LB counts in B, and a regression line was drawn with the equation: y = 0.653x + 5.929; p = 0.003.