Abstract
ABSTRACT Background Oral dysbiosis is an imbalance in the oral microbiome and is associated with a variety of oral and systemic diseases, including periodontal disease, caries, and head and neck/oral cancer. Although antibiotics can be used to control this dysbiosis, they can lead to adverse side effects and superinfections. Thus, novel strategies have been proposed to address these shortcomings. One strategy is the use of probiotics as antimicrobial agents, since they are considered safe for humans and the environment. Specifically, the Gram-positive Lactococcus lactis, a species present in the oral and gut microbiota, is able to produce nisin, which has been used worldwide for food preservation. Objective The objective of this study was to test whether a nisin probiotic can promote a healthier oral microbiome in pathogen-spiked oral biofilms. Results We found that L. lactis can prevent oral biofilm formation and disrupt 24-h and 48-h pre-formed biofilms. Finally, we demonstrate that both treatments, a nisin-producing L. lactis probiotic and nisin can decrease the levels of pathogens in the biofilms and return the diversity levels back to control or ‘healthy’ levels. Conclusion A nisin-producing probiotic, can be used to treat ‘disease-altered’ biofilms and promote healthier oral biofilms, which may be useful for improving patient oral health.
Highlights
The human microbiome lives in a symbiotic or mutua listic relationship with the human host and assists with the development of the host defense system, regulation of the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system, nutrient absorption and energy regulation [1,2,3]
As expected from our previously published studies, the purified nisin bacteriocin inhibited biofilm formation in a dose-dependent manner from 0.001 to 2 μg/ml. These data indicate that nisin is a significant effector molecule in biofilm growth inhi bition, whereas bacterial competition via L. lactis has no/minimal contribution to the inhibition effects
Impos ing absolute anaerobic growth conditions on the biofilm would not favor the growth of a complex biofilm com munity, including the largely aerobic commensal bacteria that seed the first layers of the biofilm, which are followed by the pathogenic microbes that thrive within a spectrum of different levels of oxygenation [37]
Summary
The human microbiome lives in a symbiotic or mutua listic relationship with the human host and assists with the development of the host defense system, regulation of the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system, nutrient absorption and energy regulation [1,2,3]. Oral biofilms play an essential role both in the development of the natural oral physiology and defense of the host [5]. Because of these important roles, an imbalance in the oral microbiome or development of dysbiosis is associated with a variety of oral and systemic diseases, including periodontal disease, caries, recurrent endo dontic infections, and head and neck cancer (HNC) [6,7]. Novel strategies need to be proposed to address this shortcoming. One of these strategies is the use of bacteriocins and probiotics to assist in mitigating this dysbiosis by suppressing oral pathogens within these communities. Objective: The objective of this study was to test whether a nisin probiotic can promote a healthier oral microbiome in pathogen-spiked oral biofilms
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