Glycerol strengthens probiotic effect of Limosilactobacillus reuteri in oral biofilms: A synergistic synbiotic approach

Abstract

Both in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that the probiotic Limosilactobacillus reuteri can improve oral health. Limosilactobacillus reuteri species are known to produce the antimicrobial “reuterin” from glycerol. In order to further increase its antimicrobial activity, this study evaluated the effect of the combined use of glycerol and Limosilactobacillus reuteri (ATCC PTA 5289) in view of using a synergistic synbiotic over a probiotic. An antagonistic agar growth and a multispecies biofilm model showed that the antimicrobial potential of the probiotic was significantly enhanced against periodontal pathobionts and anaerobic commensals when supplemented with glycerol. Synbiotic biofilms also showed a significant reduction in inflammatory expression of human oral keratinocytes (HOK‐18A), but only when the keratinocytes were preincubated with the probiotic. Probiotic preincubation of keratinocytes or probiotic and synbiotic treatment of biofilms alone was insufficient to significantly reduce inflammatory expression. Overall, this study shows that combining glycerol with the probiotic L. reuteri into a synergistic synbiotic can greatly improve the effectiveness of the latter.

Limosilactobacillus reuteri inhibits the acid tolerance response in oral bacteria

“…In addition, since an antimicrobial substance such as reuterin would be expected to affect viability of the oral strains independent of pH, and in this study all the oral strains showed a high viability at pH 7.5 and pH 5.5, a major role for this substance in the effect appears unlikely. This is in agreement with a recent investigation which revealed that L. reuteri ATCC PTA5289 exerts probiotic effects on streptococci that are independent of reuterin [ 22 ].…”

“…Limosilactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC PTA5289 has been shown to inhibit binding of S. mutans to saliva-coated surfaces [ 17 ] and a range of probiotic strains including L. reuteri ATCC PTA5289 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG coaggregate with, and inhibit growth of, mutans streptococci [ [18] , [19] , [20] ]. More recently, challenge with cultures of live L. reuteri ATCC PTA5289, but not culture supernatants, has been demonstrated to reduce the cariogenic activity of in vitro biofilms [ 21 ] and addition of L. reuteri ATCC PTA5289 to a multispecies biofilm model significantly reduced S. mutans levels [ 22 ]. These results suggest that further investigation into potential mechanisms by which these probiotic strains could contribute to managing dental caries are warranted.…”

The antimicrobial effect of Limosilactobacillus reuteri as probiotic on oral bacteria: A scoping review

“…This may be attributed to the increased production of reuterin by Limosilactobacillus reuteri from glycerol. 48 Hence, combining Limosilactobacillus reuteri with other active ingredients such as natural compounds or prebiotics may be a useful strategy for improving its antimicrobial efficacy. However, further details on this strategy need to be explored, including relevant references and future research perspectives.…”