Abstract
In an oral cavity, dental caries, periodontal disease, and endodontic lesions are caused by well-known bacterial and fungal pathogens. Essential oils (EOs) have demonstrated antimicrobial activity suggesting their use for oral hygiene. The goal of this study was to evaluate the interaction of bitter orange flower (Citrus aurantium L.) essential oil with cariogenic bacteria Streptococcus mutans and human gingival epithelial cells. After extraction, the chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography, and its antimicrobial activity was evaluated against the growth and the expression of virulent genes in S. mutans. Finally, the effects of this essential oil on human gingival epithelial cell adhesion and growth were assessed using cell adhesion and proliferation assays. We showed that the major constituents of the tested essential oil were limonene, linalool, and β-ocimene. The essential oil reduced the growth of S. mutans, and decreased expression of comC, comD, comE, gtfB, gtfC, and gbpB genes. It should, however, be noted that essential oil at high concentration was toxic to gingival epithelial cells. Overall, this study suggests that C. aurantium L. essential oil could be used to prevent/control oral infections.
Highlights
Essential oils (EOs) are natural products empirically used to treat various illnesses [1,2].In the literature on the subject, EOs have been suggested for various applications to treat sleep quality and anxiety as well as for antimicrobial products to synergize the antimicrobial activity of conventional antimicrobial agents [3,4]
Our results show that the EO is capable of decreasing comC, comD, comE, gftB, gftC, and gbpB mRNA expression in S. mutans
We demonstrate that Citrus aurantium L. essential oil could decrease the growth of Streptococcus mutans and degrading its mature biofilms
Summary
Essential oils (EOs) are natural products empirically used to treat various illnesses [1,2].In the literature on the subject, EOs have been suggested for various applications to treat sleep quality and anxiety as well as for antimicrobial products to synergize the antimicrobial activity of conventional antimicrobial agents [3,4]. Essential oils (EOs) are natural products empirically used to treat various illnesses [1,2]. The antimicrobial properties of EOs have shown promising health benefits, including the reduction of gingival inflammation and halitosis and the control of biofilm formation [5,6]. Biofilm formation is promoted by microorganism adherence to a favorable support and by their capacity producing extracellular matrix [7,8]. During biofilm formation, microorganisms modify their gene expression patterns. It has been shown that biofilms confer a high bacterial resistance to antibiotics [12] leading to biofilmrelated infections such as in oral cavities
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