Effect of erythritol on microbial ecology of in vitro gingivitis biofilms

Marleen Marga Janus; Catherine Minke Charlotte Volgenant; Bernd Willem Brandt; Mark Johannes Buijs; Bart Jan Frederik Keijser; Wim Crielaard; Egija Zaura; Bastiaan Philip Krom

doi:10.1080/20002297.2017.1337477

Effect of erythritol on microbial ecology of in vitro gingivitis biofilms

J Oral Microbiol. 2017 Jun 22;9(1):1337477. doi: 10.1080/20002297.2017.1337477. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Marleen Marga Janus^{1

2}, Catherine Minke Charlotte Volgenant¹, Bernd Willem Brandt^{1

2}, Mark Johannes Buijs¹, Bart Jan Frederik Keijser^{1

2

3}, Wim Crielaard^{1

2}, Egija Zaura^{1

2}, Bastiaan Philip Krom^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive Dentistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
² Top Institute Food and Nutrition, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
³ Microbiology and Systems Biology, TNO Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, Zeist, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Gingivitis is one of the most common oral infections in humans. While sugar alcohols such as erythritol are suggested to have caries-preventive properties, it may also have beneficial effects in prevention of gingivitis by preventing maturation of oral biofilms. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of erythritol on the microbial ecology and the gingivitis phenotype of oral microcosms. Biofilms were inoculated with stimulated saliva from 20 healthy donors and grown in a gingivitis model in the continuous presence of 0 (control group), 5, and 10% erythritol. After 9 days of growth, biofilm formation, protease activity (gingivitis phenotype), and microbial profile analyses were performed. Biofilm growth was significantly reduced in the presence of erythritol, and this effect was dose dependent. Protease activity and the Shannon diversity index of the microbial profiles of the biofilms were significantly lower when erythritol was present. Microbial profile analysis revealed that presence of erythritol induced a compositional shift from periodontitis- and gingivitis-related taxa toward early colonizers. The results of this study suggest that erythritol suppresses maturation of the biofilms toward unhealthy composition. The gingivitis phenotype was suppressed and biofilm formation was reduced in the presence of erythritol. Therefore, it is concluded that erythritol may contribute to a healthy oral ecosystem in vitro.

Keywords: In vitro oral biofilms; biofilm maturation; biofilm phenotype; gingivitis; microbiome; polyol.

Grants and funding

The project was funded by TI Food and Nutrition (TIFN), a public–private partnership on precompetitive research in food and nutrition. The public partners were responsible for the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript. The private partners, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, Philips, Cargill, and Wrigley, contributed to the project through regular discussion, but they were not involved in the collection and interpretation of the data and manuscript preparation. BPK was supported by a grant from the University of Amsterdam for research into the focal point ‘Oral Infections and Inflammation’.