Influence of Oral Probiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 on Ear and Oral Cavity Health in Humans: Systematic Review

Abstract

Traditionally, probiotics are linked to the good health of the intestine and most clinical studies focus on that field. Evidence of oral probiotic use for ear and oral cavity disease prevention with impact on human health is limited. This work reviews existing studies and literature on Streptococcus salivarius K12 as an oral probiotic and effects of S. salivarius K12 on human ear and oral cavity human health. The studies were accessed via database searches: MEDLINE, PubMed, and Elsevier. The search included/focused on/encompassed publications from 2003 to 2016 with keywords related to K12 Streptococcus salivarius, bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances (BLIS) K12, probiotic K12 salivarius, and K12 probiotic health effects. Only a small amount of studies was identified: the total of 68 studies was identified, 35 of which were relevant after screening, and 9 were included in the final analysis. Very little literature is available about the association/correlation between/connection/interrelation of S. salivarius K12 with/and human ear and oral cavity health. S. salivarius K12 may have a role in reducing the occurrence and/or severity of secretory otitis media (SOM) and also in prevention of streptococcal and viral pharyngotonsillitis in children. Research highlights that S. salivarius K12 has shown promising results in treatment of halitosis, but data are still deficient. Further studies need to be initiated to improve understanding of the association of oral probiotic S. salivarius K12 with human ear and oral cavity health.

Human oral microbiome dysbiosis as a novel non-invasive biomarker in detection of colorectal cancer

“…Accordingly, we define them as biofilm CAGs. Streptococcus , a biofilm CAG, has promising results in treatment of halitosis, which often concurrent with digestive tract microbial disorders during the colorectal carcinogenesis 53 , 54 . In this study, the decrease of Streptococcus in the oral cavity of CRA group may contribute to microbiota dysbiosis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis.…”

Effects of Streptococcus salivarius K12 with nystatin on oral candidiasis—RCT

“…Streptococcus salivarius K12 appears to have excellent evidences as a kind of oral probiotic with more than a decade of tradition (Zupancic et al, ). It is reported that S. salivarius strains inhibit the biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans and suppress potentially detrimental upper respiratory tract bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumonia and Streptococcus pyogenes in vitro (James & Tagg, ; Ogawa et al, ; Tamura et al, ; Wescombe et al, ).…”

“…Previous studies revealed that S . salivarius K12 has the ability to interfere with the excessive growth of pathogens occupying the nasopharynx and oral cavity (Wescombe, Hale, Heng, & Tagg, ; Zupancic, Kriksic, Kovacevic, & Kovacevic, ). Accumulated evidence suggested that it is beneficial for otitis media (Pierro, Colombo, Giuliani, et al, ), halitosis (Burton, Chilcott, & Tagg, ; Masdea et al, ), and acute pharyngotonsillitis (Pierro, Colombo, Zanvit, & Rottoli, ) possibly due to its antimicrobial activity and immunomodulatory properties.…”

Application of Antibiotics/Antimicrobial Agents on Dental Caries

“…For example, S. salivarius strains can produce bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances with a broad spectrum of activity against cariogenic streptococci including S. mutans. S. oligofermentans is a bacterium that appears to be inversely correlated with the presence of S. mutans within dental plaque samples and was shown to produce hydrogen peroxide with lactic acid as the substrate, leading to the inhibition of S. mutans growth [112,113].…”

“…e human oral cavity is in a state of coexistence with a microbial community [123]. Varieties of interactions between microbes normally maintain a balance in a healthy environment, while the overgrowth of conditional pathogens along with their increased virulence factors in the oral microenvironment disrupts this balance, leading to infectious diseases in the oral cavity, such as dental caries [113,[124][125][126]. e effect of microbial diversity and the interactions in microbial communities cannot be ignored.…”