Leishmaniosis is a tropical neglected parasitic disease that is endemic in many countries, including Middle East, with no existing effective vaccines. The bite of female sand-fly transmits the causative agent, Leishmania spp., to humans. High toxicity, resistance and treatment failure of the available chemotherapy against visceral leishmaniosis demands the investigation of new anti-leishmanial compounds. Lupeol is a form of triterpene isolated from several medicinal plants and possesses an antimicrobial property. In this study, cytotoxic effect of lupeol was screened against the mammalian amastigotes form and insect promastigote form of Leishmania donovani, following three cycles of incubation at different concentrations by MTT assay. Results revealed the in vitro anti-leishmanial effect of lupeol on both forms of the parasite where significant decline in promastigotes and amastigotes growth was observed. This was conducted along three times of follow up (24, 48, 72) hours, in comparison to the classical sodium stibogluconate treatment. Cell viability was calculated and the minimum IC50 was detected after 48 hours for amastigotes and 24 hours for promastigotes, 12.125 µM, 102.78 µM, respectively. Given the severity of visceral leishmaniosis and the toxicity of conventional chemotherapies, the anti-leishmanial activity of lupeol suggested a promising compound for additional clinical trials
The marine collagens are biocompatible and biodegradable materials that are considered as a biomimetic approach for tissue regeneration. This study evaluated the effect of daily consumption of marine collagen supplement drink on enamel white spot lesions (WSLs), comparing the results against Regenerate system and Sylc air abrasion methods. Fifty human enamel slabs were allocated into five groups (n = 10 per group): non-treated (sound); non-treated (WSLs, 8% methylcellulose gel with 0.1 M lactic acid (pH 4.6) at 37 °C for 21 days); and three treated surfaces with marine collagen; Regenerate system; and Sylc air abrasion. The treatment lasted for 28 days followed by four weeks’ storage in artificial saliva (pH = 7.0, 37 °C). Evalu
... Show MoreAcinetobacter baumannii is highly adapted to hospital environments, causing persistent chronic infections due to its ability to form biofilms. In this work, the antibiofilm activity of AuNPs with a subMIC concentration of 9.34 μg/ml was investigated by the microtiter plate method against 80 clinical isolates of A. baumannii. The results revealed that the biofilm was significantly (P< 0.05) reduced by 48.2 – 82.1%.
The Effect of Chicken Eggshell Extract on Microhardness of Artificially Induced Dental Erosion in Permanent Teeth (In Vitro Study), Shatha A Abbas*, Alhan A Qasim
In the present work, Uranium (238U), Thorium (232Th) and Potassium (40K) specific activity concentration in (Bq/kg) was measured in five different types for wheat flours that are available in the Iraqi markets. The gamma spectrometry method with an NaI (Tl) detector has been used for radiometric measurements. Calculations of radium equivalent activity, annual effective dose equivalent, external hazard index (Hex), internal hazard index (Hin), representing gamma index and gamma dose rate in all flour samples were 17.98132 Bq/kg, 0.0100334, 0.04502, 0.04857, 0.06872, 0.125883 and 8.181244 respectively. It is found that the average of specific activity concentration of wheat flour sam
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries and periodontal disease are the most common and widely spread diseases affecting humans at different ages. Aim of this study is the assessment of prevalence and severity of dental caries, gingivitis, oral hygiene and enamel anomalies in relation to gender and residency among 15 years old students in Maysan governorate –Iraq. Materials and methods: The total sample composed of 750 students (400 males and 350 females, 450 urban and 300 rural) selected randomly from different high schools in the Governorate. Diagnoses and recording dental caries was according to the criteria of WHO (1987), Plaque index of Silness and Loe (1964) was used for plaque assessment, Ramfjord index (1959) was applied for the assessment
... Show MoreBackground: The change in the concepts of cavity preparation and the development of reliable adhesive materials lead to the development of alternative methods of caries removal. Chemo-mechanical caries removal (CMCR) involves the chemical softening of carious dentin, followed by its removal with manual excavation. The present study was conducted to evaluate clinically the efficiency of caries removal using a new chemo-mechanical agent (Papacarie) compared to the conventional drilling method in reduction of total bacterial count. Material and methods: The study is a split mouth design. The sample composes from sixty mandibular deciduous molars teeth in thirty children, between six to nine years of age with bilateral class I deep occlusal car
... Show MoreBackground: A Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) internal derangement (TMJID) is a disruption within the internal aspects of the TMJ in which the disc is displaced from its normal functional relationship with the mandibular condyle, after which the articular portion of the temporal bone causes joint dysfunction, joint sound, malocclusion, and locking of the mouth. Conservative and invasive techniques can be used for the treatment of TMJID. A platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection is a simple, less invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of internal derangement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of PRP injections in decreasing or eliminating pain, clicking, and limitation of mouth opening in patients with TMJID after th
... Show MoreOne of the most popular causes for implant infection is dental plaque bacteria. Previous studies have shown the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser irradiation on bacteria associated with soft tissue surrounding the implant materials. No published studies have examined the effect of irradiation by CO2 laser on Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus.The aim of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser on bacteria that are causing dental implant infections. This study was carried out on two isolates of bacterial species out of 25 samples, isolated from patients having soft tissue infections around the dental implant. These two pure isolates including Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus were identified
... Show MoreBackground: Dental erosion is a common oral condition which results due to consumption of high caloric and low pH acidic food such as carbonated drinks and fruit juices. It is expected that these food types can cause irreversible damage to dental hard tissues and early deterioration of the dental restorations. So, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the erosive potential effects of orange fruit juice and Miranda orange drink on the microhardness of an orthodontic composite material. Materials and methods: Thirty discs with a thickness of 2 mm and a diameter of 10 mm were prepared from orthodontic bonding composite. The prepared discs were equally divided into three groups (n=10). Microhardness analysis was carried out both prior to
... Show More