Candida Albicans and Streptococcus Mutans Biofilms Suppression by Bioactive Compounds Isolated from Ruta Angustifolia

Abstract

Ruta angustifolia is one of the species of Ruta genus that is widely used in Asia as traditional natural medicine, but scientific research related to this plant is still limited. Several studies have stated that this plant has an antimicrobial effect, but no studies have discussed the antibiofilm effect of bioactive compounds isolated from R. angustifolia. This study is the first to address this issue. This study aims to see whether the bioactive compounds isolated from R. angustifolia can inhibit the formation of biofilms on oral microbes that play the most important role in the construction of dental caries, namely Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans. Isolation and identification of bioactive compounds is achieved through Thin Layer Chromatography, Liquid Chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance, respectively. Crystal Violet (CV) method is used to see the total biomass of biofilm, and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method is used for the viability test. The morphological visualization of C. albicans has also been carried out using a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope. Three compounds that have been isolated are kokusaginine, chalepin, and lindelofine. The CV and MTT data were compared with the control data using an analysis of variance test followed by the Tukey honestly significant difference test, while the morphological data is qualitatively analyzed. From the results of the biofilm test, it was concluded that the three compounds could significantly inhibit the formation of biofilms produced by C. albicans and S. mutans in mixed species cultures.