Antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens and immunomodulatory effects and toxicity of geopropolis produced by the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata Smith

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Antônio Luís A Pereira¹  Maria Nilce S Ribeiro²  Lucilene A Silva³  Aramys S Reis³  Maria José AM Araújo³  Nadia S Mattar³  Silvana A Liberio⁴  Richard P Dutra⁵  Flávia Raquel F Nascimento⁶  Rosane NM Guerra⁶  Valério Monteiro-Neto⁷ 

[1] Departamento de Odontologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Farmacognosia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Imunofisiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Imunofisiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Departamento de Odontologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Imunofisiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Farmacognosia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Imunofisiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, CEP: 65.080-040, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;Laboratório de Microbiologia, Centro Universitário do Maranhão, Rua Josué Montello No. 1, CEP: 65.075-120, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil;

关键词: Antimicrobial Activity;    Quercetin;    Total Phenol;    Chlorhexidine;    Propolis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-11-108

 received in 2011-06-23, accepted in 2011-11-04,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNative bees of the tribe Meliponini produce a distinct kind of propolis called geopropolis. Although many pharmacological activities of propolis have already been demonstrated, little is known about geopropolis, particularly regarding its antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens. The present study aimed at investigating the antimicrobial activity of M. fasciculata geopropolis against oral pathogens, its effects on S. mutans biofilms, and the chemical contents of the extracts. A gel prepared with a geopropolis extract was also analyzed for its activity on S. mutans and its immunotoxicological potential.MethodsAntimicrobial activities of three hydroalcoholic extracts (HAEs) of geopropolis, and hexane and chloroform fractions of one extract, were evaluated using the agar diffusion method and the broth dilution technique. Ethanol (70%, v/v) and chlorhexidine (0.12%, w/w) were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. Total phenol and flavonoid concentrations were assayed by spectrophotometry. Immunotoxicity was evaluated in mice by topical application in the oral cavity followed by quantification of biochemical and immunological parameters, and macro-microscopic analysis of animal organs.ResultsTwo extracts, HAE-2 and HAE-3, showed inhibition zones ranging from 9 to 13 mm in diameter for S. mutans and C. albicans, but presented no activity against L. acidophilus. The MBCs for HAE-2 and HAE-3 against S. mutans were 6.25 mg/mL and 12.5 mg/mL, respectively. HAE-2 was fractionated, and its chloroform fraction had an MBC of 14.57 mg/mL. HAE-2 also exhibited bactericidal effects on S. mutans biofilms after 3 h of treatment. Significant differences (p < 0.05) in total phenol and flavonoid concentrations were observed among the samples. Signs toxic effects were not observed after application of the geopropolis-based gel, but an increase in the production of IL-4 and IL-10, anti-inflammatory cytokines, was detected.ConclusionsIn summary, geopropolis produced by M. fasciculata can exert antimicrobial action against S. mutans and C. albicans, with significant inhibitory activity against S. mutans biofilms. The extract with the highest flavonoid concentration, HAE-2, presented the highest antimicrobial activity. In addition, a geopropolis-based gel is not toxic in an animal model and displays anti-inflammatory effect.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Liberio et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.