Abstract
Antimicrobial surface modifications are required to prevent biomaterial-associated biofilm infections, which are also a major concern for oral implants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of three different coatings on the biofilm formed by human saliva. Biofilms grown from human saliva on three different bioactive poly(oxanorbornene)-based polymer coatings (the protein-repellent PSB: poly(oxanorbornene)-based poly(sulfobetaine), the protein-repellent and antimicrobial PZI: poly(carboxyzwitterion), and the mildly antimicrobial and protein-adhesive SMAMP: synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides) were analyzed and compared with the microbial composition of saliva, biofilms grown on uncoated substrates, and biofilms grown in the presence of chlorhexidine digluconate. It was found that the polymer coatings significantly reduced the amount of adherent bacteria and strongly altered the microbial composition, as analyzed by 16S RNA sequencing. This may hold relevance for maintaining oral health and the outcome of oral implants due to the existing synergism between the host and the oral microbiome. Especially the reduction of some bacterial species that are associated with poor oral health such as Tannerella forsythia and Fusobacterium nucleatum (observed for PSB and SMAMP), and Prevotella denticola (observed for all coatings) may positively modulate the oral biofilm, including in situ.
Highlights
Three poly(oxanorbornene)-based polymer coatings with different bioactivity profiles were chosen for this study to evaluate their effects on the microbial composition of biofilms formed by total human salivary bacteria
The surface coatings PSB, PZI, and SMAMP analyzed in this study exhibited differential ability to reduce biofilm formation upon challenge with a complex bacterial mixture obtained from saliva
None of them prevented the formation of the biofilm, there was a drastic reduction in the overall amount of surface-attached bacteria, as well as the microbial composition of biofilm
Summary
Saliva and oral biofilms comprise a plethora of bacteria. The most dominant groups are Streptococcus spp., which have been associated with dental caries [1], Actinomyces spp., which play a role in initial phase of caries development [2], Fusobacterium spp. (a bridging microorganism that can co-aggregate with early and late colonizers and plays a major role in the maturation of the oral biofilm), Veillonella spp. and Rothia spp. (which are considered as markers for early childhood caries) [3], Prevotella spp., Tannerella spp. and Porphyromonas spp. (associated with periodontitis patients) [4,5], Neisseria spp., and Gemella spp.
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