https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0269-4283
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ABSTRACT
Background: Modulation of the commensal oral microbiota constitutes a promising preventive/therapeutic approach in oral healthcare. The use of prebiotics for maintaining/restoring the health-associated homeostasis of the oral microbiota has become an important research topic.
Aims: This study hypothesised that in vitro 14-species oral biofilms can be modulated by (in)direct stimulation of beneficial/commensal bacteria with new potential prebiotic substrates tested at 1 M and 1%(w/v), resulting in more host-compatible biofilms with fewer pathogens, decreased virulence and less inflammatory potential.
Methods: Established biofilms were repeatedly rinsed with N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, α-D-lactose, D-(+)-trehalose or D-(+)-raffinose at 1 M or 1%(w/v). Biofilm composition, metabolic profile, virulence and inflammatory potential were eventually determined.
Results: Repeated rinsing caused a shift towards a more health-associated microbiological composition, an altered metabolic profile, often downregulated virulence gene expression and decreased the inflammatory potential on oral keratinocytes. At 1 M, the substrates had pronounced effects on all biofilm aspects, whereas at 1%(w/v) they had a pronounced effect on virulence gene expression and a limited effect on inflammatory potential.
Conclusion: Overall, this study identified four new potential prebiotic substrates that exhibit different modulatory effects at two different concentrations that cause in vitro multi-species oral biofilms to become more host-compatible.
ACKNOWLEDGEDMENTS
This study was supported by grants from the KU Leuven (Belgium) (C24/17/086), from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium) (FWO G091218N) and from Colgate-Palmolive (NJ, USA).
We thank Ioanna Chatzigiannidou (CMET, UGent) for the help with the organic acid analysis.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
T.V. contributed to conception, design, data acquisition and analysis, data interpretation, drafted and critically revised the manuscript; K.B. and N.B. contributed to design and data interpretation, critically revised the manuscript; W.V.H., N.Z., C.D., J.M. and M.Q. contributed to data interpretation, critically revised the manuscript; W.T. contributed to conception, design, data analysis and interpretation, critically revised the manuscript.
DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST
Authors W.T, T.V, K.B., M.Q. (in the name of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), N.B. (in the name of Universiteit Gent), C.D and J.M. (in the name of Colgate-Palmolive Company) are listed as inventors on a patent application filed by Colgate-Palmolive Company, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Universiteit Gent related to specific aspects of this manuscript. Dr. Daep and Dr. Masters are employed by Colgate-Palmolive, which partially sponsored this study. All other authors report no conflicts of interest related to this study.
MATERIALS & CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to W.T.
Supplementary Material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.
Disclosure statement
Authors W.T, T.V, K.B., M.Q. (in the name of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), N.B. (in the name of Universiteit Gent), C.D and J.M. (in the name of Colgate-Palmolive Company) are listed as inventors on a patent application filed by Colgate-Palmolive Company, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Universiteit Gent related to specific aspects of this manuscript. Dr. Daep and Dr. Masters are employed by Colgate-Palmolive, which partially sponsored this study. All other authors report no conflicts of interest related to this study.