Germany: Over the last two decades, antibiotic resistance had been investigated many times and has been the subject of public debate. However, resistance to antiseptics, locally acting disinfectants, had received less attention.
Now, researchers from the University of Freiburg and the University Hospital Regensburg were investigating how such resistance develops for the caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans and how this might also lead to antibiotic resistance.
By using selected bacterial species and patient samples, the researchers investigated how microorganisms of the oral flora changed when treated with chlorhexidine.
“Our goal is to understand the development of resistance of oral bacteria to chlorhexidine, both on the genome level as well as with regard to changes in the bacteria metabolism,” said Prof. Ali al-Ahmad, head of the research group at the Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology at University of Freiburg.
Dr Fabian Cieplik, senior physician at the University Hospital Regensburg said “One of the project’s questions is whether freely available chlorhexidine-based mouthwashes can also contribute to the development of resistances.”
Whether resistance to chlorhexidine was associated with resistance to antibiotics, a cross-resistance, would be investigated by both research groups with the help of different methods. “In the future, we might be able to specifically decide when a broad-spectrum antiseptic should be used and when alternative drugs are sufficient,” explained al-Ahmad.
In addition, a special genetic test, the shotgun metagenomic analysis, would be used. With this method, it would examine whether the composition of the entire bacterial oral flora of patients, who had to use chlorhexidine over a longer period of time owing to an oral surgical procedure, would change under the influence of the antiseptic.
-article published in Dental Tribune International
Dr Muattar Hanif
The author is Editor at Dental News Pakistan and can be reached at newsdesk@medicalnewsgroup.com.pk
