Several pleurocidin congeners had the antimicrobial effect against Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus sobrinus.

Toxicity studies indicated that several congener peptides had little effect on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) with 5 min of in vitro treatment.

Among pleurocidin congeners, pm11 appear to be the best candidates because they were the most potent molecules and lacked significant cytotoxicity.

The results suggested that peptides with strong activity against S. mutans could be designed by altering native peptides.