Antibacterial Peptides: Opportunities for the Prevention and Treatment of Dental Caries

Abstract

Dental caries is a multifactorial disease that is a growing and costly global health concern. The onset of disease is a consequence of an ecological imbalance within the dental plaque biofilm that favors specific acidogenic and aciduric caries pathogens, namely Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. It is now recognized by the scientific and medical community that it is neither possible nor desirable to totally eliminate dental plaque. Conversely, the chemical biocides most commonly used for caries prevention and treatment indiscriminately attack all plaque microorganisms. These treatments also suffer from other drawbacks such as bad taste, irritability, and staining. Furthermore, the public demand for safe and natural personal hygiene products continues to rise. Therefore, there are opportunities that exist to develop new strategies for the treatment of this disease. As an alternative to conventional antibiotics, antibacterial peptides have been explored greatly over the last three decades for many different therapeutic uses. There are currently tens of hundreds of antibacterial peptides characterized across the evolutionary spectrum, and among these, many demonstrate physical and/or biological properties that may be suitable for a more targeted approach to the selective control or elimination of putative caries pathogens. Additionally, many peptides, such as nisin, are odorless, colorless, and tasteless and do not cause irritation or staining. This review focuses on antibacterial peptides for their potential role in the treatment and prevention of dental caries and suggests candidates that need to be explored further. Practical considerations for the development of antibacterial peptides as oral treatments are also discussed.

Activity of Synthetic Antimicrobial Peptide GH12 against Oral Streptococci

“…Our results suggest that GH12 more selectively inhibits the growth and metabolism of highly cariogenic streptococci in dental plaque, without strongly affecting streptococci of lower cariogenicity. This increases the potential of GH12 for clinical use, since antimicrobial agents that are selective to cariogenic oral streptococci may be better for inhibiting caries while still maintaining the ecological balance of resident 'healthy' oral microbes in the biofilm [Pepperney and Chikindas, 2011;Marsh et al, 2015].…”

The increasing of beta-defensin-2 level in saliva after probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri administration

“…7 It is known that those two bacterial species are sensitive to BD-2. 6 Probiotic administration as a preventive treatment against dental caries has currently been evaluated. According to the WHO, probiotics can be defined as live microorganisms which when consumed in sufficient quantities, they would be beneficial to health.…”

“…According to the WHO, probiotics can be defined as live microorganisms which when consumed in sufficient quantities, they would be beneficial to health. 6 Commensal bacteria is excellent inducer for BD-2 in epithelial cells of the oral cavity. It means that probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) as commensal bacteria can possibly act as an inducer for secreting BD-2 possibly detected in saliva samples.…”

TargetingQuorum Sensing and Competence Stimulation for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

“…The N-terminus was left uncapped as it appeared to be involved in receptor activation, while the oxidation-prone Met2 residue was replaced with the isosteric, but non-oxidisable, residue Norleucine (Nle). The 17-residue H-ENleRL[KKFFD][KFILD]RKK-NH 2 (compound 1), featuring cyclic (5,9) and (10,14) lactams formed by condensing Lys and Asp side chains together, was conceived as an antibacterial helical compound [50]. Our previous investigations indicated that the bicyclic lactam framework was highly resistant to proteolytic degradation [45][46][47][48][49], although the N-and C-terminal regions outside the macrocycles may have been susceptible to cleavage.…”

“…Another important human pathogen is S. mutans, the major etiological agent of dental caries [9]. Although it is a non-life threatening pathogen, the economic cost for symptomatic dental infection is staggering at $100 billion in the USA alone [10], not including secondary costs associated with pain, tooth loss and reduced quality of life. No successful vaccines have been developed against S. mutans and there is great interest in developing alternative therapies.…”