Effect of red wine on the adhesive properties of oral streptococci

Several studies suggest that moderate wine consumption has beneficial effects on human health. The antioxidant properties, particularly of red wine, attributed mainly to its polyphenol content, account for the protection against the risk of coronary heart disease and cancer. Wine also possesses antimicrobial activity against selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria and our previous research showed the antibacterial action of red and white wine against oral streptococci responsible for caries development. Caries is an infectious disease whose principal etiological agents in humans is considered to be Streptococcus mutans. A crucial step in the initiation and development of dental caries is the adhesion of cariogenic bacteria to tooth surfaces. In this study, the effects of red wine have been evaluated on the cariogenic streptococci capacity of adhesion to hydroxyapatite beads in presence and in absence of sugar. The present work shows that red wine inhibits the S. mutans and other cariogenic bacteria adsorption to hydroxyapatite. The red wine polyphenol components fractionation, showed that the fraction responsible for the wine inhibition activity was wine fraction containing anthocyanins and polymeric proanthocyanidins. These results indicate that red wine could have beneficial effects on caries prevention by hampering the adhesion of cariogenic streptococci.