{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T02:57:39Z","timestamp":1791946659502,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Streptococcus mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Candida albicans<\/jats:italic> are common pathogenic organisms from the oral microbial community, and are associated with the pathogenesis of caries. We investigated the repressive effects of arginine on the cross-kingdom interactions and synergistic cariogenicity between <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The effect of arginine on the growth of <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic> in the planktonic state was reflected by analyzing growth curves and pH measurements. Biofilm biomass was measured using growth curves, crystal violet staining, and colony-forming unit measurements; fluorescence <jats:italic>in situ<\/jats:italic> hybridization indicated the physical relationship between <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic> in biofilms. The cariogenic properties of dual-species biofilms were analyzed through extracellular polysaccharide and lactic acid production assessments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Arginine inhibited the planktonic growth and biofilm formation of <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>, with reduced biofilm formation, biomass, and physical adhesion between strains. Moreover, arginine suppressed the production of extracellular polysaccharides and lactic acid. In addition, short-term arginine treatment effectively inhibited the growth of <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>L-Arginine inhibited both mono- and dual-species growth of <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>. Thus, L-arginine may serve as a novel approach to inhibit the cross-kingdom interactions and synergistic cariogenicity of <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2025.1633342","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T05:27:28Z","timestamp":1760419648000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Arginine inhibits cross-kingdom interactions and synergistic cariogenicity between Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Hong-yu","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hong-mei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao-ming","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan-song","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu-xing","family":"Bai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Clinical evaluation of the ability of caviStat in a mint confection to inhibit the development of dental caries in children","volume":"19","author":"Acevedo","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. 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