Evaluation of the effect of coating vertex denture lining material with plant oils on microbial growth and hardness

Aims: To evaluate the effect of surface coating with natural plant oils (Salvia officinalis, ginger and eucalyptus) on Candida growth and the hardness of Vertex denture lining material. Materials and method: Forty five specimens were prepared from soft acrylic lining material, twenty five of which were 10x10x2mm in size for testing antifungal activity, and twenty samples were 20mm in diameter and 12mm in thickness, for testing shore A hardness after coating samples with three types of natural oils (Salvia officinalis, ginger and eucalyptus oils). Significant differences among the groups at (p≤0.05) level of significance were determined statistically with one way analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test Result: Antifungal assay showed a significant difference between five groups regarding Candida albicans growth (p≤ 0.05). For the hardness test, comparing different times of storage in water (1, 7, 14, 30 days) revealed a significant difference within all groups (p≤0. 05). While comparing the groups coated with natural oils with the control group, significant differences were found between different times of storage in water (1, 7, 30 day) (p≤0.05), except at 14 days of water storage there was no significant difference between groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: All tested natural oils were effective as fungicidal agents and increased the softness and duration of soft acrylic lining material.

Enhancement of CD3AK cell proliferation and killing ability by α-Thujone.

Thujone is a monoterpene ketone natural substance found mainly in wormwood and sage. Previous studies have shown that Thujone has various pharmacological effects, such as anti-tumor, analgesic, and insecticide. The effect of α-Thujone to human immune cells is still unknown. Our study focuses on investigating the effects and mechanism of α-Thujone to CD3AK (anti- CD3 antibody induced activated killer) cells proliferation and cytotoxicity to colon cancer cell lines. With cell proliferation and FCM assay, it is found that α-Thujone could significantly enhance CD3AK cell proliferation and expression of CD107a in a dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxicity to colon cancer cells detected by CCK-8 assay is also improved. The expressions of TNF-α and FasL detected with ELISA assay were not significantly changed. Mechanically, the study shows that α-Thujone could enhance the expression of p-ERK1/2 and p-Akt. In addition, α-Thujone has no cytotoxicity to HCT116 and SW620 cells proliferation. In a word, α-Thujone enhances CD3AK cell proliferation and cytotoxicity via the improvement of expression of CD107a, p-Akt and p-ERK1/2.