Antimicrobial effect of anacardic acid–loaded zein nanoparticles loaded on Streptococcus mutans biofilms

Bacterial biofilms play a key role in the pathogenesis of major oral diseases. Nanoparticles open new paths for drug delivery in complex structures such as biofilms. This study evaluated the antimicrobial effect of zein nanoparticles containing anacardic acid (AA) extracted from cashew shells of Anacardium occidentale on in vitro Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation and mature biofilms. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bacterial concentration (MBC), and antibiofilm assays were performed. Streptococcus mutans UA159 biofilms were formed on saliva-coated hydroxyapatite disk for 5 days. To evaluate the preventive effect on biofilm formation, before contact with the inoculum, the disks were immersed once for 2 min in (1) hydroethanolic solution; (2) blank zein nanoparticles; (3) zein nanoparticles containing AA; and (4) 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate. To determine the effect against mature biofilms, the disks containing 5-day preformed biofilms were further treated using the same procedure. The bacterial viability and dry weight were determined for both assays and used to compare the groups using ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test ( p < 0.05). Both MIC and MBC for AA-loaded zein nanoparticles were 0.36 μg/mL. Groups 3 and 4 were very effective in inhibiting S. mutans biofilm formation, as no colony-forming units were detected. In contrast, for mature biofilms, no difference in bacterial viability ( p = 0.28) or dry weight ( p = 0.09) was found between the treatments. Therefore, the AA-based nanoformulation presented very high inhibitory and bactericidal activities against planktonic S. mutans , and the results indicate a strong antiplaque effect. However, the formulation showed no antimicrobial effect on the established biofilm.