Antibacterial mechanism of areca nut essential oils against Streptococcus mutans by targeting the biofilm and the cell membrane

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Yan Wang¹  Shuwei Liu²  Tiantian Zhang²  Lei Liu³  Zhenbo Song³  Zhijin Li⁴ 

[1] College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, China;National Engineering Laboratory for Druggable Gene and Protein Screening, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China;College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya, China;National Engineering Laboratory for Druggable Gene and Protein Screening, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China;NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Control of Cell and Gene Therapy Medicine Products, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China;National Engineering Laboratory for Druggable Gene and Protein Screening, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China;Xiamen Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine Research and Development, Xiamen Health and Medical Big Data Center (Xiamen Medicine Research Institute), Xiamen, China;

关键词: Streptococcus mutans;    antibacterial activity;    antibiofilm mechanism;    essential oil;    areca nut;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcimb.2023.1140689

 received in 2023-01-09, accepted in 2023-08-11,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionDental caries is one of the most common and costly biofilm-dependent oral diseases in the world. Streptococcus mutans is the major cariogenic pathogen of dental caries. S. mutans synthesizes extracellular polysaccharides by autologous glucosyltransferases, which then promotes bacterial adhesion and cariogenic biofilm formation. The S. mutans biofilm is the principal target for caries treatment. This study was designed to explore the antibacterial activity and mechanisms of areca nut essential oil (ANEO) against S. mutans.MethodsThe ANEOs were separated by negative pressure hydro-distillation. The Kirby-Bauer method and broth microdilution method were carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity of different ANEOs. The antibacterial mechanism was revealed by crystal violet staining, XTT reduction, microbial adhesion to hydrocarbon test, extracellular polysaccharide production assay, glucosyltransferase activity assay, lactate dehydrogenase leaking, propidium iodide staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cytotoxicity of ANEOs was determine by MTT assay.ResultsThe ANEOs separated at different temperatures exhibited different levels of antibacterial activity against S. mutans, and the ANEO separated at 70°C showed the most prominent bacteriostatic activity. Anti-biofilm experiments showed that the ANEOs attenuated the adhesion ability of S. mutans by decreasing the surface hydrophobicity of the bacteria, prevented S. mutans biofilm formation by inhibiting glucosyltransferase activity, reducing extracellular polysaccharide synthesis, and reducing the total biofilm biomass and activity. SEM further demonstrated the destructive effects of the ANEOs on the S. mutans biofilm. Cell membrane-related experiments indicated that the ANEOs destroyed the integrity of the cell membrane, resulting in the leakage of lactic dehydrogenase and nucleic acids. SEM imaging of S. mutans cell showed the disruption of the cellular morphology by the ANEOs. The cytotoxicity assay suggested that ANEO was non-toxic towards normal oral epithelial cells. DiscussionThis study displayed that ANEOs exerted antibacterial activity against S. mutans primarily by affecting the biofilm and disrupting the integrity of the cell membrane. ANEOs has the potential to be developed as an antibacterial agent for preventing dental caries. Additionally, a new method for the separation of essential oil components is presented.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Liu, Zhang, Li, Wang, Liu and Song