Abstract
Piper aduncum has been widely used for medicinal purposes, and it has also been known to possess antimicrobial activity. Dental plaque is a complex ecosystem that harbors benign and pathogenic bacteria. It is desirable that compounds targeted to treat dental plaque-related diseases should be selective in their action, preserving the benign bacteria and inactivating the pathogenic ones. Thus, the study evaluated the antibacterial activity of P. aduncum leaf extracts against cariogenic (Streptococcus mutans) and health-associated (Streptococcus sanguinis) bacterium. For this, ethanol extracts were obtained by decoction, maceration, Soxhlet or turbo-extraction. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts was determined using the broth microdilution method. The influence of extracts on virulence traits of S. mutans was evaluated by the adherence assay to glass surface and by the glycolytic pH drop assay. S. mutans was more susceptible to crude extracts of P. aduncum than S. sanguinis and the highest activity was obtained with the maceration extract (MAC). Thus, MAC was further fractionated by gel permeation chromatography and the most active fraction against S. mutans (MIC of 0.08 mg/mL) had a MIC of 0.62 mg/mL for S. sanguinis. In addition, this fraction inhibited sucrose-dependent adherence of S. mutans and also reduced the level of acid production by this bacterium. The preferential activity of P. aduncum extracts towards S. mutans compared with S. sanguinis, in addition to their ability to inhibit sucrose-dependent adherence and reduce the level of acid production by S. mutans, suggest that this plant may have a potential to prevent dental caries. Key words: Plant extracts, Piper aduncum, antibacterial activity, Streptococcus mutans, caries prevention.
Highlights
Dental plaque or dental biofilm is a dynamic and complex community of microorganisms found on a tooth surface, embedded in a matrix of polymers of host and bacterial origin
The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for S. sanguinis were consistently higher (2 to 4-fold) than those found to S. mutans, and the crude extract yielded by maceration technique (MAC) was the most effective
It is noteworthy that the J fraction was approximately eight times more active against S. mutans than on S. sanguinis, showing a lower MIC than that of the maceration extract (MAC)
Summary
Dental plaque or dental biofilm is a dynamic and complex community of microorganisms found on a tooth surface, embedded in a matrix of polymers of host and bacterial origin. This structure forms via an ordered sequence of. Remarkable changes occur in the microbiota on the tooth surface towards the predominance of acidogenic and aciduric bacterial species such as Streptococcus mutans (Takahashi and Nyvad, 2011; He et al, 2015). It is widely accepted that S. mutans is one of the main caries-related bacteria, since it is responsible for the beginning of the caries process on enamel and root surfaces (Tanzer et al, 2001)
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