Antimicrobial Peptide GH12 Prevents Dental Caries by Regulating Dental Plaque Microbiota
Wentao Jiang, Yufei Wang, Junyuan Luo, Xiangshu Chen, Yuhao Zeng, Xinwei Li, Zening Feng, Linglin Zhang
Abstract
The anticaries effects and microecological regulation effects of the antimicrobial peptide GH12 were evaluated systematically in vitro and in vivo . GH12 inhibited the cariogenic virulence of dental plaque without overintervening in the microbial ecology of healthy individuals in vitro . GH12 regulated the microbial ecology of dental plaque to a certain extent in vivo under cariogenic conditions, increased the proportion of commensal bacteria, and decreased the abundance of caries-associated bacteria. GH12 significantly suppressed the incidence and severity of dental caries in vivo . This study thus describes an alternative antimicrobial therapy for dental caries.