Antimicrobial Photoinactivation Using Visible Light Plus Water-Filtered Infrared-A (VIS + wIRA) Alters In Situ Oral Biofilms

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 10;10(7):e0132107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132107. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Recently, growing attention has been paid to antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in dentistry. Changing the microbial composition of initial and mature oral biofilm by aPDT using visible light plus water-filtered infrared-A wavelengths (VIS + wIRA) has not yet been investigated. Moreover, most aPDT studies have been conducted on planktonic bacterial cultures. Therefore, in the present clinical study we cultivated initial and mature oral biofilms in six healthy volunteers for 2 hours or 3 days, respectively. The biofilms were treated with aPDT using VIS+wIRA (200 mW cm(-2)), toluidine blue (TB) and chlorine e6 (Ce6) for 5 minutes. Chlorhexidine treated biofilm samples served as positive controls, while untreated biofilms served as negative controls. After aPDT treatment the colony forming units (CFU) of the biofilm samples were quantified, and the surviving bacteria were isolated in pure cultures and identified using MALDI-TOF, biochemical tests and 16S rDNA-sequencing. aPDT killed more than 99.9% of the initial viable bacterial count and 95% of the mature oral biofilm in situ, independent of the photosensitizer. The number of surviving bacterial species was highly reduced to 6 (TB) and 4 (Ce6) in the treated initial oral biofilm compared to the 20 different species of the untreated biofilm. The proportions of surviving bacterial species were also changed after TB- and Ce6-mediated aPDT of the mature oral biofilm, resulting in a shift in the microbial composition of the treated biofilm compared to that of the control biofilm. In conclusion, aPDT using VIS + wIRA showed a remarkable potential to eradicate both initial and mature oral biofilms, and also to markedly alter the remaining biofilm. This encourages the clinical use of aPDT with VIS + wIRA for the treatment of periimplantitis and periodontitis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacteria / drug effects
  • Bacterial Adhesion / drug effects
  • Biofilms / drug effects*
  • Biofilms / radiation effects*
  • Cattle
  • Colony Count, Microbial
  • Dental Enamel / drug effects
  • Dental Enamel / radiation effects
  • Female
  • Filtration*
  • Humans
  • Infrared Rays*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mouth / microbiology*
  • Photochemotherapy
  • Species Specificity
  • Water*

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Water

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Swiss Dr. Braun Science Foundation and in part by the German Research Foundation (DFG, AL 1179/2-1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.