Wild blueberry extract can help fight gum inflammation

TORONTO: Scientists have discovered that wild blueberry extract could help prevent dental plaque formation, an advance that may lead to a new therapy for periodontitis and a reduced need for antibiotics.

Many people have had some degree of gum inflammation, or gingivitis, caused by dental plaque. The gums get red and swollen, and they bleed easily. If left unchecked, the condition can progress to periodontitis.

The plaque hardens into tartar, and the infection can spread below the gum line and destroy the tissue supporting the teeth.

To treat this condition, dentists scrape off the tartar and sometimes have to resort to conventional antibiotics. But recently, researchers have started looking at natural antibacterial compounds to treat gum disease.

Daniel Grenier from the Oral Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Dentistry, and Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, Universite Laval, Canada and colleagues wanted to see if blueberry polyphenols, which work against foodborne pathogens, could also help fight Fusobacterium nucleatum, one of the main species of bacteria associated with periodontitis.

In the lab, the researchers tested extracts from the wild lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium Ait, against F nucleatum.

The polyphenol-rich extracts successfully inhibited the growth of F nucleatum, as well as its ability to form biofilms. It also blocked a molecular pathway involved in inflammation, a key part of gum disease.

The researchers said they are developing an oral device that could slowly release the extract after deep cleaning to help treat periodontitis.

The study is published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.