Blueberry extract could treat gum infection

Scientists have discovered that wild blueberry extracts help prevent dental plaque formation and treat severe gum diseases. The findings could lead to reduced use of antibiotics to treat the serious gum infection disease called periodontitis.

The researchers from Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, said they were developing an oral device that could slowly release the blueberry extract after deep cleaning to help treat periodontitis. Gum disease is a common condition among adults that occurs when bacteria form biofilms or plaques on teeth, and consequently the gums become inflamed.

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 and colleagues from Laval University 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 blueberry 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 findings were reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.)