Comparative Antimicrobial Activity and Cytotoxicity of Iranian Propolis Extract, Thymus Vulgaris Extract, Allium Sativum Extract, and Calcium-Enriched Mixture Cement for Dental Pulp Stem Cells of Primary Teeth

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

3 Department of Dental Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Hamedan University of Medical Science, Hamedan, Iran

Abstract

This study compared the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of Iranian propolis, Thymus vulgaris, and Allium sativum extracts, and calcium-enriched mixture (CEM) cement on human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) from primary teeth. In this in vitro study, the antimicrobial activity of the extracts and their combinations against Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated using agar-well diffusion, MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration), and MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration) assays. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the MTT assay. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and the Tukey test (α = 0.05). The combination of T. vulgaris and propolis demonstrated the lowest MIC values against most tested bacteria, while T. vulgaris alone was most effective against E. coli. CEM cement showed the highest antibacterial activity, with an effect comparable to that of T. vulgaris–propolis combination against S. aureus. Regarding cytotoxicity, CEM cement showed the highest cell viability, followed by propolis and the T. vulgaris–propolis combination, whereas A. sativum exhibited the lowest viability. Overall, the 1:1 combination of Iranian propolis and T. vulgaris demonstrated superior antimicrobial activity compared with CEM cement and other extracts. However, as this study was conducted in vitro, further in vivo studies are necessary to confirm the clinical applicability of these findings.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Medicinal plants and By-products
Volume 16, Issue 2
March and April 2027
Pages 120-128

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