Antimicrobial Effects of Gum Arabic‐Silver Nanoparticles against Oral Pathogens

Abstract

Dental caries is considered one of the most prevalent oral diseases worldwide, with a high rate of morbidity among populations. It is a chronic infectious disease with a multifactorial etiology that leads to the destruction of the dental tissues. Due to their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antioxidant properties; silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are incorporated in dental products to help prevent infectious oral diseases. In this study, the antimicrobial effects of AgNPs synthesized using Gum Arabic extracts (GAE) were examined. The GA-AgNPs were synthesized and characterized using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of the GA-AgNPs was evaluated on Streptococcus sanguinis (S. sanguinis), Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus), and Candida albicans (C. albicans) using agar disc diffusion and microdilution assays. The antibiofilm of GA-AgNPs was evaluated on the surface of human tooth enamel that had been exposed to S. mutans with and without the GA-AgNPs using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). GA-AgNPs were spherical in shape with a particle size distribution between 4 and 26 nm. The GA-AgNPs exhibited antimicrobial activity against all the tested oral microbes, with GA-AgNPs_0.4g having higher antimicrobial activity. The GA-AgNPs_0.4g inhibited S. mutans adhesion and biofilm formation on the surface of the tooth enamel. Therefore, this study supports the prospective implementation of the plant extract-mediated AgNPs in dental healthcare.

Prospects of Using Gum Arabic Silver Nanoparticles in Toothpaste to Prevent Dental Caries

“…The agar disc diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the commercial TP 1-4 on S. sanguinis , S. mutans , L. acidophilus and C. albicans , as described before [ 18 ]. In this method, agar plates were inoculated with a 100 µL of each of the standardized inoculum of the test microorganisms.…”

“…The GA-AgNPs_0.4g used in this study were synthesized and characterized as previously described [ 18 ]. Briefly, 1.6 g of Acacia senegal gum arabic (GA) powder purchased from local vendors in North Kordofan (Sudan, Africa) was dissolved in 100 mL of boiling deionized water and filtered through 0.45 µm filters before use.…”

“…Nanomaterials, or NPs, are defined as materials with one or more dimensions at a size range between 1 and 100 nm and exhibit different properties as compared to their precursors or bulk materials [ 11 , 12 ]. The morphology and size distribution of the NPs are key factors for their inventive bioapplications [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], including in oral care products [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

“…AgNPs are among the MNPs that have received special attention in recent years, especially in biomedicine, due to their immense antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antifungal activities [ 13 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. They have been synthesized from synthetic and natural compounds, although the biosynthesis route is preferred to reduce the toxicity associated with the chemical synthesis method [ 10 , 24 ].…”

“…Plants have many advantages over microorganisms, as they are economical and easy to process [ 27 ]. Bioactive AgNPs have been synthesized using various plant extracts from Punica granatum [ 28 ], Justica glauca leaf [ 29 ], Plectranthus ambionicus [ 30 ], Rice [ 31 ], and Gum Arabic [ 18 , 32 ], and have been shown to have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against various oral microbes including Streptococcus mutans ( S. mutans ), Candida albicans ( C. albicans ), Lactobacillus acidophilus ( L. acidophilus ), and Enterococcus faecalis ( E. faecalis ). Their antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria, as well as drug resistant microbes [ 33 ], suggests that AgNPs can potentially be used as antimicrobial agents.…”