Dual antibacterial drug-loaded nanoparticles synergistically improve treatment of Streptococcus mutans biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Dental caries (i.e., tooth decay), which is caused by biofilm formation on tooth surfaces, is the most prevalent oral disease worldwide. Unfortunately, many anti-biofilm drugs lack efficacy within the oral cavity due to poor solubility, retention, and penetration into biofilms. While drug delivery systems (DDS) have been developed to overcome these hurdles and improve traditional antimicrobial treatments, including farnesol, efficacy is still modest due to myriad resistance mechanisms employed by biofilms, suggesting that synergistic drug treatments may be more efficacious. Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), a cariogenic pathogen and biofilm forming model organism, has several key virulence factors including acidogenicity and exopolysaccharide (EPS) matrix synthesis. Flavonoids, such as myr

SUBMITTER: Sims KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7530141 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature