Abstract
Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are sugar substitutes widely used to reduce the negative health effects of excessive sugar consumption. Dental caries, one of the most prevalent chronic diseases globally, results from a pathogenic biofilm with microecological imbalance and frequent exposure to sugars. Some research has shown that certain NNSs possess less cariogenic potential than sucrose, indicating their putative effect on oral microbiome. To uncover the alterations of acidogenic pathogens and alkali-generating commensals, as well as the biofilm cariogenic potential under the influence of NNSs, we selected four common NNSs (acesulfame-K, aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose) and established single-, dual-, and multispecies in vitro culture model to assess their effects on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and/or Streptococcus sanguinis (S. sanguinis) compared to sucrose with the same sweetness. The results showed that NNSs significantly suppressed the planktonic growth, acid production, and biofilm formation of S. mutans or S. sanguinis compared with sucrose in single-species cultures. Additionally, decreased S. mutans/S. sanguinis ratio, less EPS generation, and higher pH value were observed in dual-species and saliva-derived multispecies biofilms with supplementary NNSs. Collectively, this study demonstrates that NNSs inhibit the cariogenic potential of biofilms by maintaining microbial equilibrium, thus having a promising prospect as anticaries agents.
Highlights
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates
crystal violet (CV) staining demonstrated the decreased biofilm formation of S. mutans or S. sanguinis cultured with Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) compared to that with sucrose and the decline of S. sanguinis biofilms was more obvious than that of S. mutans (Figures 1(c) and 1(d))
We further examined the effect of NNSs on the microbial composition and extracellular polysaccharides (EPS)/acid production of the multispecies biofilms which were derived from saliva and supplemented with S. mutans inoculation
Summary
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates. “sugar” refers to the granulated household flavoring to enhance sweetness, whose main ingredient is sucrose, one of the most commonly consumed sugars in human diet [1]. Sugar maintains an important position in food industry, its excessive consumption has been implicated with several health conditions including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and dental caries [2]. It is a multifactorial disease that occurs in the presence of a pathogenic biofilm and frequent exposure to sugars [4]. Considered as a highly cariogenic substrate, sucrose can be utilized by pathogenic bacteria to generate acid by-product which leads to demineralization, as well as extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) which facilitate its colonization and form a protective environment against host defense [5]. The interactions between acidogenic/aciduric bacteria (e.g., Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus spp.) and alkali-generating commensals (e.g., Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus gordonii) in dental plaque are closely associated with the initiation and development of caries [6, 7]
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