Cranberry proanthocyanidins act in synergy with licochalcone A to reduce Porphyromonas gingivalis growth and virulence properties, and to suppress cytokine secretion by macrophages

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of polymicrobial origin that affects the tooth-supporting tissues. With the spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria, alternative strategies are required to better control infectious diseases such as periodontitis. The aim of our study was to investigate whether two natural compounds, A-type cranberry proanthocyanidins (AC-PACs) and licochalcone A, act in synergy against Porphyromonas gingivalis and the host inflammatory response of a macrophage model.

Porphyromonas gingivalis: an invasive and evasive opportunistic oral pathogen

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative oral anaerobe highly involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, an inflammatory disease that destroys the tooth supporting tissues, eventually leading to tooth loss. P. gingivalis has the capacity invade locally periodontal tissues and evade the host defence mechanisms.