The Anticaries Effect of a Food Extract (Shiitake) in a Short-Term Clinical Study

Authors: Peter Lingström, Egija Zaura, Haidar Hassan, Mark J. Buijs, Pamie Hedelin, Jonathan Pratten, David Spratt, Maria Daglia, Aneta Karbowiak, Caterina Signoretto, Martijn Rosema, Fridus van der Weijden, and Michael Wilson

Journal: Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology

Study Design: Double-blind, three-leg, cross-over, randomized, controlled clinical trial

Participants: Two series of volunteers at the University of Gothenburg (GOT, n=30) and the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA, n=35)

Intervention: The volunteers rinsed twice daily for two weeks with:

• Low-molecular-weight fraction of shiitake mushroom extract
• Placebo (negative control)
• Meridol (AmF-SnF2, positive control)

The study included washout periods between each rinsing period.

Outcome Measures:

• Changes in the acidogenicity of dental plaque before and after a sucrose challenge
• Shifts in microbial composition
• Plaque scores

Summary: The study investigated the caries-preventive properties of a low-molecular-weight fraction of shiitake extract. The results showed that frequent rinses with shiitake reduced the metabolic activity of dental plaque. However, no reduction in plaque scores or inhibition of organic acid production in plaque was observed. The positive control, Meridol, showed a more substantial effect on plaque acidogenicity and plaque scores. The study concluded that shiitake extract has some anticariogenic potential, but not to the same extent as the positive control.