22 Feb Wine Might Be Good For Dental Health

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
M.Victoria Moreno-Arribas
Spanish National Research Council | CSIC 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Recent discoveries indicate polyphenols might also promote health by actively interacting with bacteria in the gut. Also, the intake of specific polyphenol-rich beverages and foods helps the maintenance of digestive health and prevention of disease status. However, the knowledge of the effects of polyphenols in relation to the prevention of dental diseases is still at an early stage.

The use of antiseptics and/or antibiotics in the prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases can lead to unwanted effects. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel antimicrobial strategies useful for the prevention and management of these diseases. Oral epithelial cells normally constitute a physical barrier that prevents infections, but bacterial adhesion to host tissues constitutes a first key step in the infectious process.

With the final goal to elucidate the health properties of wine polyphenols at oral level, we studied their properties as an anti-adhesive therapy for periodontal and cariogenic prevention, as well as the combined action between wine polyphenols and oral probiotic strains in the management of microbial-derived oral diseases. In particular, we checked out the effect of two red wine polyphenols, as well as commercially available grape seed and red wine extracts, on bacteria that stick to teeth and gums and cause dental plaque, cavities and periodontal disease. Also, oral metabolism of polyphenols, including both oral microbiota and human mucosa cells, was investigated. 

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response:  Phenolic metabolites (caffeic and p-coumaric acids), grape seed and red wine oenological extracts, were selected for our research. We tested concentrations in the range normally found in wine (50 and 10 µg/ml). Working with cells that model gum tissue, we found that the two wine polyphenols – caffeic and p-coumaric acids – were generally better than the total wine extracts at cutting back on the bacteria’s ability to stick to the cells. When combined with the Streptococcus dentisani, which is believed to be an oral probiotic, the polyphenols were even better at fending off the pathogenic bacteria. The evaluation of oral metabolism confirmed both, bacterial and cellular metabolism of wine polyphenols.

Our results also showed that metabolites formed when digestion of the polyphenols begins in the mouth might be responsible for some of these effects. 

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: Altogether, the evidence collected in our work suggests that the combination of oral probiotics and phenolic compounds could be a more than feasible strategy in the management of microbial-derived oral diseases, in particular, periodontal disease, and encourage further in vivo studies toward this direction. In a further step, delivery methods for these compounds to treat oral disorders should be optimized. Mouthwashes and chewing gums have been proposed as interesting matrices for the application of dietary polyphenols in the management of oral health. Another major novelty of this work is related to the study of the role of oral bacteria and human cells to metabolize polyphenols with the subsequent release of phenolic metabolites, which merits to be confirmed in further in vitro e in vivo studies considering plausible differences between individuals as observed for oral metabolism of other wine components.  

Citations:

Adelaida Esteban-Fernández, Irene Zorraquín-Peña, Maria D. Ferrer, Alex Mira, Begoña Bartolomé, Dolores González de Llano, M. Victoria Moreno-Arribas. Inhibition of Oral Pathogens Adhesion to Human Gingival Fibroblasts by Wine Polyphenols Alone and in Combination with an Oral Probiotic. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2018; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b05466

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Last Updated on February 22, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD