Oral Microbiota from the Stomatology Perspective

Besides the properties typical of body cavities, the oral cavity exhibits many differentiating features that allow it to occupy position of an autonomous functional and biological unit, a characteristic ecosystem. An appropriate homeostasis of oral biocenosis and balanced conditions for microorganisms concerning proportions of physiological and pathogenic or potentially pathogenic microbiota play an important role with regard to the oral cavity health and eventually the overall health of an individual. The oral cavity is a constantly changing habitat. The current market offers a number of relevant preparations supporting oral health, and alternative approaches serving these purposes are also available. Results of the studies that focused on microbiocenosis of the dental plaque and interactions between individual bacterial species indicate a probiotic potential of some oral bacteria and their prospective use in prevention of oral cavity diseases. This chapter deals with the state of physiological microbiota found in oral biofilms, with the most important infections of the oral cavity and the potential use of probiotics as a prospective alternative approach to prevention and therapy of oral cavity diseases

Methods for Searching of Potential Beneficial Bacteria and Their Products in Dental Biofilm

Dental microbiota is associated with different types of organisms with dentition including humans and is responsible for many oral diseases all over the world. Bacteria in a dental biofilm are important also in other diseases, i.e., endocarditis, pulmonary fibrosis, and arthritis, and some findings predict the connection of dental microbiota with cancerogenesis. Not all oral bacterial representatives are pathogenic or potentially pathogenic. Dental biofilm consists of numerous different bacteria that may have beneficial characteristics for good condition of dental and oral health. Searching for bacteria or their products with the beneficial effect is important in the development of new biologically based strategies for the prevention or treatment of oral and dental diseases. For searching of potential probiotic candidates are useful methods that could map phenotypic or genotypic characteristics of studied bacteria. This chapter is focused on the spectrum of these basic methods searching for beneficial bacteria and their products

Dental Biofilm as Etiological Agent of Canine Periodontal Disease

Periodontal disease is one of the most common health problem affecting dogs. The disease is more prevalent in small breeds and brachycephalic breeds compared to large breeds, and incidence increases with advancing age. In first stage it affects only the gingival tissue and causes gingivitis. It later develops into periodontitis which involves changes in other periodontium tissues. Main etiological agents of periodontal disease are pathogenic bacteria of dental biofilm, and products of their metabolism. In human, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia play a key role in the etiology of periodontal disease. Also, there are many other candidates as human periodontal pathogens, including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Parvimonas micra, Eikenella corrodens, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, Eubacterium nodatum and Campylobacter rectus. Since periodontal diseases in dogs are similar to human diseases in terms of disease progression and clinical manifestation, we can assume their common etiology. This chapter is focused on review about canine dental biofilm and about members of biofilm as potential causative agent of canine periodontal disease

Flax-seed oil and Lactobacillus plantarum supplementation modulate TLR and NF-κB gene expression in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli challenged gnotobiotic pigs

The present study analyses the effect of flax-seed oil rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum — Biocenol™ LP96 and their combination on the expression level of selected Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes (TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, TLR9) and their downstream molecules (myeloid differentiation factor 88, MyD88; nuclear factor-κB, NF-κB) in the jejunum of gnotobiotic pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). The results show that both immunomodulators are able to modulate the RNA level of at least one of the target molecules and thus regulate pathogeninduced inflammation. We confirmed that not only probiotic lactobacilli or flaxseed oil alone but also their synergistic action has great potential in the prevention and treatment of porcine colibacillosis. The results give an insight into one of the possible mechanisms by which natural agents, such as probiotic lactobacilli and flax-seed oil, exert their immunoregulatory properties during pathogen-induced inflammation

Antibiotic-Treated SPF Mice as a Gnotobiotic Model

Decontamination of specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice of BALB/c line was accomplished by administration of amoxicillin per os potentiated with potassium clavulanate at a dose of 387.11 mg/kg body weight and ciprofloxacin administered s.c. at a dose of 18.87 mg/kg body weight every 12 h for 5 days. This resulted in a decreased viability of microorganisms in feces and the cecal content of mice and decreased counts of cultivable microorganisms in the feces, which by day 3 of study declined below the recovery level and to the reduction of animal microbiota to two detected cultivable species, namely Escherichia coli (GenBank KX086704) and Enterococcus sp. (GenBank KX086705). Convalescence of decontaminated animals under gnotobiotic conditions for 10 days prevented restoration of species diversity of mice microbiota and sufficed to return the metabolic, hematological and morphological values to the physiological range. It also restored the fermentative activity of the intestine to the level similar to that observed before antibiotic treatment. Animals subjected to this procedure can be used in further studies. As a result, we created a mouse gnoto model with reduced and controlled microbiota without alteration of the overall health status of the respective animals

The influence of dietary supplementation with flax-seed oil on modulation of lipid metabolism in gnotobiotic piglets

SUMMARY The authors examined the effect of the application of flax-seed oil rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the lipid metabolism in gnotobiotic pigs inoculated with probiotic lactobacilli. Germ-free piglets were obtained via open hysterotomy and divided into 2 groups – experimental and control. All animals were inoculated from the 1st day of life with probiotic strain of Lactobacillus plantarum – Biocenol™ LP96. The diet of piglets in the experimental group was supplemented with flax-seed oil with high content of omega-3 PUFA and control piglets received the same amount of sunflower oil containing only omega-6 PUFA. The results showed significant influence of flax-seed oil on lipid metabolism parameters. Concentration of triacylglycerols was lower after the administration of flax-seed oil, the levels of total cholesterol were similar in both groups, but levels of HDL cholesterol were higher, while levels of LDL cholesterol were lower in experimental animals. The addition of flax-seed caused significant increase in proportion of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in serum lipids at the expense of arachidonic acid, the concentration of which decreased significantly. We also noted an increase in the level of short chain fatty acids in experimental piglets compared to the control animals. Flax-seed oil seems to be a suitable source of omega-3 PUFA, but healthy gut microbiota is necessary for maximal effect of such supplementation