Planta Med 2011; 77 - PB28
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282282

Characterization and in vitro evaluation of a new chitosan-based propolis tooth varnish

VR Santos 1, MP De Luca 1, FA Macedo 2, ME Cortés 2, AN Moreira 2, JR Franca 3, AA Faraco 3
  • 1Department of Clinical, Pathology and Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • 2Department of Restauratrice Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • 3Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiade Federal de Minas Gerais

Propolis has been recently studied due to its cariostatic activity. Although its activity has been exhaustively demonstrated, there is no formulation commercially available using this agent in tooth care. Chitosan has been extensively studied due its film-forming properties. Recent studies had also shown that chitosan can adhere on tooth surface and has an effective inhibition effect on the initial adherence of oral bacteria onto human tooth surface. Chitosan-based propolis varnish was successfully developed and characterized by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy SEM, hydration potential, casting time and mucoadhesive properties. The formulation presented good tooth surface adherence and ability to form films very fast on tooth surface when compressed air was used as casting agent. Also, the varnish presented interesting hydration potential (Figure 2), which suggests that the formulation will not be easily removed from tooth surface by saliva. Propolis varnish has, also, shown antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans (MD 8.67±0,52) e Streptococcus sanguinis (MD 11.70±2.11). Its cytotoxicity was made by direct contact with osteoblasts and evaluated by the MTT method. After 24 hours, the varnish reduced 20% of the cells, showing low toxicity (ISO 10993–5). The results were analyzed statistically by ANOVA in a significance of p<0,05.

Acknowledgement: The authors thank for the financial support to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNpQ), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Silvana Maria de Souza for the techinical laboratory support.

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