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Nanoparticle combinations demonstrate enhanced antibacterial activity against dental caries-associated Gram-positive bacteria, with zinc and titanium nanoparticles showing greater effectiveness than silver nanoparticles.
The growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance has renewed interest in alternative strategies for tackling oral bacterial infections. In this laboratory investigation, researchers explored whether engineered nanoparticles could enhance antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive organisms most frequently isolated from patients with dental caries, either alone or in combination with conventional antibiotics.
Oral samples collected from patients aged 10–45 years with dental caries underwent microbiological identification using standard laboratory techniques. Bacterial isolates were subsequently evaluated for susceptibility to metronidazole, clindamycin, and amoxicillin, followed by testing with zinc, titanium, and silver nanoparticles at varying concentrations. They also examined whether combining nanoparticles produced greater antibacterial effects than using individual nanoparticles alone.
Among the analyzed samples, 230 (92%) demonstrated positive bacterial growth, with Gram-positive bacterial species identified from dental caries patients. Streptococcus mutans emerged as the predominant isolate, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. The distribution of bacterial isolates are summarized below in Table 1.
Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated resistance to all three antibiotics evaluated. Among the Streptococcus species, antimicrobial responses differed by bacterial species. Streptococcus pyogenes responded to clindamycin and amoxicillin, producing inhibition zones of 22 mm and 28 mm, respectively. Metronidazole produced no detectable inhibitory effect against Streptococcus pyogenes. In contrast, Streptococcus mutans illustrated variable susceptibility to all three antibiotics, with comparatively better overall responses.
The most notable findings came from nanoparticle testing. Zinc and titanium nanoparticles consistently inhibited bacterial growth, whereas silver nanoparticles showed no measurable antibacterial activity under the study conditions. Even more importantly, combining different nanoparticles elicited greater antibacterial effects than individual nanoparticle formulations, suggesting a potential synergistic interaction against cariogenic gram-positive bacteria.
Overall, these findings highlighted the diverse antimicrobial response patterns among dental caries-associated bacteria and suggested that nanoparticle combinations may offer a promising direction for exploring alternative antibacterial strategies against resistant oral pathogens.
South Asian Research Journal of Biology and Applied Biosciences
Antimicrobial Activity and Synergistic Effect of Some Antibiotics and Nanoparticles Against Gram-Positive Bacterial Isolates Isolated from the Mouth of Dental Caries Patients
Haneen Faddil Abbas
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