Abstract
Dental caries is multifactorial disease and an important health problem worldwide. Streptococcus mutans is considered as a major cariogenic agent in oral cavity. This bacteria can synthetize soluble and insoluble glucans from sucrose by glucosyltransferases enzymes and generate stable biofilm on the tooth surface. Biological properties of Chilean propolis have been described and it includes antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibiofilm activities. The main goal of this study was to quantify the concentrations of main flavonoids presents in Chilean propolis and compare some biological properties such as antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of individual compounds and the mixture of this compounds, against S. mutans cultures. Chilean propolis was studied and some polyphenols present in this extract were quantified by HPLC-DAD using commercial standards of apigenin, quercetin, pinocembrin, and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE). MIC for antimicrobial activity was determined by serial dilution method and biofilm thickness on S. mutans was quantified by confocal microscopy. Pinocembrin, apigenin, quercetin, and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) are the most abundant compounds in Chilean propolis. These polyphenols have strong antimicrobial and antibiofilm potential at low concentrations. However, pinocembrin and apigenin have a greater contribution to this action. The effect of polyphenols on S. mutans is produced by a combination of mechanisms to decrease bacterial growth and affect biofilm proliferation due to changes in their architecture.
Highlights
Dental caries is an infectious disease that affects people from developed and underdeveloped countries
This study aimed to compare the antimicrobial activity of the individual polyphenols quantified in Chilean propolis and a mixture of this compounds applied to S. mutans cultures
In accordance with the times of retention (Tr) and the direct comparison with commercial standards, it was possible to verify the presence of quercetin, apigenin, pinocembrin, and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE)
Summary
Dental caries is an infectious disease that affects people from developed and underdeveloped countries. In Chile, it is an important health problem that affects adults and children from a low socioeconomic status [1]. This multifactorial disease leads to tooth destruction and removing the enamel by means of degradation of mineral material. Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) has been indicated as the major cariogenic agent in oral cavity. Such bacteria can synthetize soluble and insoluble glucans from diet sucrose mediated by glucosyltransferases enzymes (gtfs), which allows extracellular aggregation for stable biofilm formation on the tooth surface [2,3,4]. Gtfs are encoded by GTFB, GTFC, and GTFD genes and previous studies have demonstrated that polyphenols-rich extract of Chilean propolis decreases GTFs gene expression levels and exerts a functional effect on its enzymatic capacity for synthetizing insoluble glucans at subinhibitory concentrations [5]
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