ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Extra-intestinal Microbiome
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1652490
Metabolic modulation and multi-species interaction: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum's impact on Streptococcus mutans-Candida albicans in a mucosal model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Eastman Institute for Oral Health, Rochester, United States
- 2Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 3University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, United States
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Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans are well-known pathogens associated with dental caries and oral mucosal diseases, such as oral candidiasis. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and the prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) have demonstrated the ability to inhibit S. mutans and C. albicans, as well as modulate their synergistic interactions in both biofilm and planktonic models. However, the inhibitory effect and underlying mechanisms of L. plantarum on S. mutans and C. albicans in oral mucosal models remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that GOS enhanced the inhibitory effects of L. plantarum on S. mutans and C. albicans in an oral mucosal model through metabolic and immunologic regulation. Specifically, L. plantarum reduced the viability of S. mutans, inhibted the adhesion of S. mutans and C. albicans to oral mucosa, and decreased the transmigration of S. mutans through the mucosal membrane. L. plantarum also significantly attenuated the virulence of C. albicans through inhibiting hyphae formation. Moreover, our findings showed that L. plantarum helps maintain the integrity of the mucosal barrier by mitigating the epithelial inflammatory response induced by S. mutans and C. albicans. Furthermore, the combination of GOS and L. plantarum significantly reduced pathogenic extracellular polysaccharide production by S. mutans, creating a metabolic microenvironment less favorable for the survival and interaction of S. mutans and C. albicans from an ecological perspective. Collectively, these results underscore the potential of probiotics and prebiotics as strategies to prevent and mitigate oral diseases that involve the mucosal barrier and S. mutans and C. albicans pathogenesis.
Keywords: lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans, galacto-oligosaccharides, oral mucosa, Metabolomics
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wu, Alyami, Alomeir, Wu and Xiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jin Xiao, jin_xiao@urmc.rochester.edu
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