Study: Probiotic gum reduces inflammation

Apr 20, 2009

Gum PerioBalance, a chewing gum containing probiotic bacteria, appeared to ease gingivitis in a study reported in the Acta Odontologica Scandinavica (Vol. 67:1, pp. 19-24).

For the study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the Karolinska Institute, and Umeå University assigned 42 otherwise healthy adults with moderate gingivitis to one of three parallel arms. One group chewed gum containing 1x10⁸CFU of 2 strands of Lactobacillus reuteri (ATCC 55730 and ATCC PTA 5289) every day for 2 weeks. This group also chewed a placebo gum every day.

The researchers measured the subjects' bleeding on probing (BOP) and sampled their gingival crevicular fluid at baseline and after 1, 2, and 4 weeks. They measured the levels of the inflammatory mediators IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 with luminex technology and multiplex immunoassay kits.

They found that BOP improved and crevicular volume decreased in all groups during the time that they chewed, but the changes were only statistically significant in the groups who chewed gum with the probiotic.

For the inflammatory mediators, the results were more mixed. The group that chewed only probiotic gum experienced a significant decline in TNF-α and IL-8 during the chewing period. IL-1β dipped a bit during this time as well, but the change wasn't statistically significant. The gum didn't affect the levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in any of the groups.

Gum PerioBalance is made by BioGaia. It can be purchased through www.drugstore.com. The study was supported by grants from the Danish Dental Society, Tandlægernes Nye Landsforening, Västerbotten County Council, and BioGaia, Sweden.