Effect of Propolis-Based Antimicrobial on Oral Bacteria

Objective: The purpose of this experiment is to measure the effect of propolis on amount of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus Salivarius, Streptococcus sanguis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus remaining after being submerged in propolis and alcohol. Propolis has exhibited several biological activities, such as antimicrobial andimmunomodulatory properties. The purpose of this study is to examine the antimicrobial activity of Cameroonian propolis extract on various oral microorganisms. The effects of Cameroonian propolis on the activity of purified glucosyltransferases (GTFs) and on the growth of oral bacteria will be evaluated.

Method: Microorganisms tested in this project are Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus Salivarius, Streptococcus sanguis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Also the effect of propolis extract was tested on adherence of mutans streptococcus on Hydroxyapatite (HA) disc surface. All experiments were performed in duplicate with duplicate incubation mixtures, and mean values were calculated. Statistical significance is evaluated by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

Result: Due to the propolis being dissolved in alcohol, several of the samples had altering results. S. mutans, S. Salvarius, S. Sanguis, and Lactobacillus acidophiluswere the bacteria being tested with propolis and each bacterium had a different result. In the beginning of the experiment the propolis didn’t affect the bacteria count. However, after altering the amount of bacteria and propolis in each sample, the propolis had a greater affect on the bacteria

 

 Conclusions: Due to the altering results, future studies with propolis will use a different substrate in order to dissolve the propolis. This preliminary study will help guide future studies with more bacteria and propolis. Additional samples will be tested and propolis will be dissolved in a different substrate.