Antimicrobial activity of n-6, n-7 and n-9 fatty acids and their esters for oral microorganisms.

OBJECTIVE: This study is to assess the antibacterial activity of omega-6, -7, -9 (n-6, n-7, n-9) fatty acids against various oral microorganisms.
METHODS: The n-6, n-7, n-9 fatty acids, such as gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (ARA), palmitoleic acid (PA), and oleic acid (OA), their fatty acid ethyl esters, GLA-EE, LA-EE, ARA-EE, PA-EE, OA-EE, and their fatty acid methyl esters, GLA-ME, LA-ME, ARA-ME, PA-ME, OA-ME, were investigated for antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Various concentrations of the fatty acids, their methyl and ethyl esters were tested against various oral pathogens in 96-well plates and blood-agar plate. The plates were incubated anaerobically or aerobically at 37 degrees C for 48h, and the colony forming units (CFU) were determined.
RESULTS: The data demonstrated that select n-6, n-7, n-9 fatty acids and their esters exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against these oral microorganisms, demonstrating some specificity for individual microbial species.
CONCLUSION: The potential use or the combinations of the n-6, n-7, n-9 fatty acids and/or their esters, provided in a local delivery vehicle to infected sites in the oral cavity, could be considered as an additional therapeutic approach to improving oral health. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.