Nutrition & Health Technology Center, Qingdao Vland Biotech Group Co., Ltd, Qingdao, China.
BMC Oral Health. 2024 Aug 8;24(1):915. doi: 10.1186/s12903-024-04703-x.
Dental caries is a common disease in the oral cavity, and the microorganisms in the cavity are colonized in the form of dental plaque biofilm. Streptococcus mutans is the main pathogen causing dental caries. Using probiotics to inhibit the growth and colonization of pathogenic bacteria, regulate mucosal immunity and improve oral microecological balance is an effective way to prevent or treat dental caries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the caries-prevention of probiotics in vitro and in rat caries models.
The probiotics used in this study are a combination of 4 strains of bacteria. After the fermentation of 4 strains (L. plantarum, L. salivarius, L. rhamnosus, and L. paracasei) was completed, they were mixed in equal volume proportions and used as samples to be tested. The mixture was then assessed the ability to inhibit the growth of S. mutans in vitro and in vivo. SPSS Statistics 22.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for analysis.
In vitro the probiotics mixture could inhibit the growth of S. mutans and was able to remove biofilms formed by S. mutans. In a 42-day in vivo experiment, the probiotics group significantly reduced the level of S. mutans on the tooth surface of rats, reducing more than half the bacterial quantities compared with the caries model group (P < 0.05). The amount of S. mutans in the antagonist group was low and highly significant compared with the caries model group. Moreover, the mixture of 4 strains significantly reduced the caries scores (modified Keyes scoring method) in both the probiotic and antagonist groups (p < 0.05).
The study showed that the combination of the four strains can reduce the cavity scores, and the four strains can be used as products in oral care products. At the same time, the study also suggests that probiotic therapy can be an effective way to prevent dental caries.
龋齿是口腔中的一种常见疾病，口腔中的微生物以牙菌斑生物膜的形式定植。变形链球菌是导致龋齿的主要病原体。利用益生菌抑制致病菌的生长和定植，调节黏膜免疫，改善口腔微生态平衡，是预防和治疗龋齿的有效方法。本研究旨在评估益生菌的体外和大鼠龋齿模型的防龋作用。
本研究使用的益生菌是由 4 株细菌组成的组合。在 4 株菌（植物乳杆菌、唾液乳杆菌、鼠李糖乳杆菌和副干酪乳杆菌）发酵完成后，以等体积比例混合作为待检测样品。然后评估混合物在体外和体内抑制变形链球菌生长的能力。采用 SPSS Statistics 22.0（SPSS，Inc.，芝加哥，IL，USA）进行分析。
体外，益生菌混合物可抑制变形链球菌的生长，并能去除变形链球菌形成的生物膜。在 42 天的体内实验中，益生菌组显著降低了大鼠牙齿表面变形链球菌的水平，与龋齿模型组相比，细菌数量减少了一半以上（P<0.05）。拮抗剂组的变形链球菌数量较低，与龋齿模型组相比具有高度显著性差异。此外，4 株菌混合物显著降低了益生菌组和拮抗剂组的龋齿评分（改良 Keyes 评分法）（p<0.05）。
研究表明，4 株菌的组合可以降低龋损评分，这 4 株菌可以作为口腔护理产品的产品使用。同时，研究还表明，益生菌治疗可能是预防龋齿的一种有效方法。
