Cannabigerol Effect on Streptococcus mutans Biofilms—A Computational Approach to Confocal Image Analysis

Abstract

Biofilms are complex bacterial structures in which bacterial cells thrive as a community. Many bacterial species, including pathogens, form biofilms of high complexity and adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions. One example of these is Streptococcus mutans, a gram-positive bacterium that has been associated with caries. Cannabigerol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, has been shown to affect S. mutans biofilms. In order to better characterize the effect of cannabigerol on biofilms of S. mutans, this paper provides a series of computational assays for biofilm analysis, applied on confocal images of S. mutans biofilms treated with cannabigerol. Confocal images are ubiquitous in biofilm analysis—they are often used to visualize the complex structure and molecular composition of biofilm macrocolonies. In this article, we demonstrate how confocal imaging data can be used to reveal more comprehensive insights into biofilm structure and measure specific anti-biofilm effects. This is accomplished by a series of computational assays, each focusing on a different aspect of biofilm structure.

Polyglactin 910 Meshes Coated with Sustained-Release Cannabigerol Varnish Inhibit Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Formation and Macrophage Cytokine Secretion: An In Vitro Study

“…This assay was performed similarly to the method described in [ 71 ]. In brief, the S. aureus biofilms formed on day 5 at the bottom of a flat-bottom 12-well microplate (Corning, Incorporated, Kennebunk, ME, USA) were washed twice with PBS and stained with 3.3 µM SYTO 9 (Invitrogen, Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and 2 µg/mL propidium iodide (PI; Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) and kept in the dark at RT for 20 min.…”

Cannabinoid medicine in the orofacial region: status and prospects

“…Se hallaron 9 estudios, 2 de ellos fueron estudios clínicos, 1 de intervención 19 y 1 observacional 20 , 1 estudio in vivo sobre modelo de ratones C57Bl6 32 , los 6 restantes estudios exclusivamente in vitro, 3 sobre cultivos de Estreptococos mutans [43][44][45] y 3 sobre cultivo de placa dental de voluntarios 14,46,47 .…”

“…Los estudios in vitro realizados sobre S. mutans testearon el adicionamiento de CBD y CBG en cultivo, observando alteración en la estructura y morfología bacteriana, así como una disminución de su actividad metabólica, los biofilms se presentaron más desorganizados y porosos, las UFC se redujeron, disminuyendo la densidad bacteriana [43][44][45] .…”

The Antimicrobial Properties of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Compounds and Relevance to CB2-Targeted Neurodegenerative Therapeutics

“…Farha et al have shown that multiple cannabinoids employed at 2 µg/mL are potent inhibitors of S. aureus biofilm formation, with cannabigerol (CBG) at 4 µg/mL seemingly able to disperse preformed biofilms and rapidly kill persister cells [ 12 ]. CBD and CBG have also been shown to prevent biofilm formation by the related, cariogenic bacterium, Staphylococcus mutans UA159 [ 57 , 58 ].…”