ABSTRACT
The oral cavity, which harbors more than 750 bacterial species, is one of the most diverse sites of the human body. Some of these bacteria have been associated with oral diseases, such as dental caries and endodontic infections. We report on the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of Copaifera oblongifolia oleoresin against bacteria that cause caries and endodontic infections. The aim of this study is to determine the minimum (MIC) and the bactericidal (MBC) inhibitory concentrations as well as the biofilm inhibition ability (through determination of MBIC50) of the C. oblongifolia oleoresin. This study also investigated the bactericidal kinetics (time-kill curves) and the synergistic effect of the C. oblongifolia oleoresin. Additionally, this study evaluated the cytotoxic activity of the oleoresin toward V79 cells by means of the colony-forming assay. The C. oblongifolia oleoresin gave promising MIC and MBC values, which ranged from 25 to 200 µg/mL. Analysis of the MBIC50values of the oleoresin revealed it displayed biofilm inhibitory activity against all the assayed bacteria. Analysis of the bactericidal kinetics showed different behaviors of the oleoresin against the tested bacteria at the different time intervals and concentrations assayed in this study. An additive effect of the oleoresin with chlorhexidine dihydrochloride occurred only for S. mitis and A. actinomycetemcomitans. The C. oblongifolia oleoresin showed cytotoxic activity at concentrations ≥ 625 µg/mL.