Effect of Taurolidine on Periodontal Pathogens

Objectives: At present, chlorhexidine represents the gold standard among the anti-plaque agents. It is active against many microbial species, but side effects are staining of teeth, mucositis and alteration of taste. Taurolidine which is used in prevention of catheter-related infections and in bone infections may be a potential alternative in therapy of periodontitis and periimplantitis. Thus, the antimicrobial effect of taurolidine against periodontopathogenic species was tested in comparison to chlorhexidine digluconate. Methods: Minimal inhibitory (MIC) and microbiocidal concentrations (MBC) of chlorhexidine digluconate and taurolidine as well as killing by theses agents were determined against 32 different microbial strains, among them three Porphyromonas gingivalis, three Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans strains and 15 potentially superinfecting species also in the presence of serum. Results: The MIC50 of taurolidine against the tested microbial strains was 0.025% and the MIC90 0.05%. The respective values for the MBCs were 0.05% and 0.1%. Addition of 25% serum (heat-inactivated) did not change the MIC- and MBC-values of taurolidine. In contrast, MICs and MBCs of CHX increased by two steps after addition of non activated serum. Taurolidine killed microorganism in a concentration and time dependent manner, the killing rate of 1.6% taurolidine was 99.08 ± 2.27% in mean after 2 h. Again, addition of inactivated serum reduced clearly the killing rate of all selected bacterial strains by CHX, whereas killing activity of taurolidine was pronounced in part if serum was added. Conclusion: Taurolidine possesses antimicrobial properties which are not reduced in the presence of serum as a main component in gingival crevicular fluid and wound fluid after non surgical and surgical periodontal treatment.

The study was supported by Geistlich Pharma AG, Wolhusen, Switzerland.