In vitro anti-biofilm activity of macelignan isolated from Myristica fragrans Houtt. against oral primary colonizer bacteria

In early dental plaque formation, oral primary colonizers such as Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguis and Actinomyces viscosus are initially attached to the pellicle-coated tooth surface to form a biofilm. The study aimed to determine the efficacy of macelignan, isolated from nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.), in removing each single oral primary biofilm in vitro on a polystyrene 96-well microtiter plate. Four biofilm growth phases (4, 12, 20 and 24 h) were evaluated in this study after treatment with macelignan at various concentrations (0.2, 2 and 10 μg/mL) and exposure times (5, 10 and 30 min). Anti-biofilm activity of macelignan was measured as the percentage of the remaining biofilm absorbance after macelignan treatment in comparison with the untreated control. At 24 h of biofilm growth, S. mutans, A. viscosus and S. sanguis biofilms were reduced by up to 30%, 30% and 38%, respectively, after treatment with 10 μg/mL macelignan for 5 min. Increasing the treatment time to 30 min resulted in a reduction of more than 50% of each of the single primary biofilms. The results indicate that macelignan is a potent natural anti-biofilm agent against oral primary colonizers.