Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the tested oil against the fungus. The combination of the oil extract of Nasturtium officinale with calcium hydroxide was evaluated and compared to calcium hydroxide paste with iodoform by using the agar well diffusion method. Results: The oil extract exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, this activity was found to be increased as the concentration of extract increased. The tested combination of watercress oil extract with calcium hydroxide revealed larger inhibition zones than the ones formed by each tested agent individually. Conclusion: The oil extract of Nasturtium officinale is active against Candida albicans suggesting its potential to be used as an intracanal medicament alone or in combination with calcium hydroxide.
Endophytic bacteria produced analogous secondary metabolites of their hosts. Similarly, the ability to generate antioxidants is not an exception. Dragon scales (Pyrrosia piloselloides), an epiphytic plant of the Polypodiaceae family, are frequently overlooked. This research aims to isolate antioxidant-producing bacteria from dragon-scale fern leaves. The antioxidant activities were tested after the extraction procedure using ethanolic extract. Bacteria were characterized and selected as candidates for antioxidant production by screening for the production of total phenolic compounds. Antioxidant levels were determined utilizing the ABTS, FRAP, and DPPH techniques. The preliminary findings of the entire phenolic compound test rev
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted to reveal the effect of crude oil on some fungal species isolation from soil in order to evaluate the role of these fungi in environmental balance of soil . The results showed a variation in numbers and percentage of the fungal isolates Aspergillus fumigatus dominated over all isolates with a frequency of (32.47) . In respect of the effect of different concentrations of the crude oil, low concentrations (0.05, 0.1) % showed no effect on radial growth ( mean colony diameter) of the isolated fungi grown &nbs
... Show MoreA many risk challenge in (settings hospital) are multi- bacteria are antibiotic-resistant. Some type strains that ability adhesion surface-attached bio-film census. Fifteen MRSA isolates were considered as high biofilm producers Moreover all MRSA isolates; M3, M5, M7 and M11 produced biofilms but the thickest biofilm seen M7strain. The MIC values of N. sativa oil against clinical isolates of MRSA were between (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0) μg/ml While MRSAcin (50, 75, 100, 125) µg\ ml. All biofilms treated with MRSAcin and Nigella sativa developed a presence of live cells after cultured on plate agar with inhibition zone between MIC (18 – 15) and (14- 11)mm respectively.Yet, results showed that MRSA supernatant developed a inhibitory ef
... Show MoreUrinary tract infections (UTIs) mean microbial pathogens in the urethra or bladder (lower urinary tract). Important risk factors for recurrent UTI include obstruction of the urinary tract, use of a bladder catheter or a suppressed immune system. This study aims to isolate and identify bacteria from patients with TCC-bladder cancer or patients with a negative cystoscope and estimate antibiotic susceptibility patterns and evaluate some of the virulence factors. From a total of 62 patients with TCC-BC or negative cystoscope, only 35 favorable bacterial growths were obtained, including Escherichia coli (UPEC), a significant bacterial isolate, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The percentage of multi drug-resistance bacteria
... Show MoreAn experiment was conducted at botanical garden of Department of Biology ,College of Education (Ibn-AL –Haitham ,University of Baghdad during winter season of 2010 -2011.The aim of prsent study is to investigate the effect of Garlic (Allium sativum) extract and root extract of Ginger(Ziniber officinale)in two concentration of both extracts (20% and 30%)on growth and yield of (Cicer arietinum).The result showed that both extracts increased plant hight ,Chlorophyl content ,relative growth rate (RGR).Absolute growth rate (AGR),seeds yield .seed weight average ,biological yield ,carbohydrate and protein percentages in seeds,in comparsim with control plants .
Acinetobacter baumannii received attention for its multi-drug resistant associated with many severe infections and outbreaks in clinical environment. The aims of the study are to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of clinically isolated A. baumannii, biofilm production, and the efficiency of Low Frequency Ultrasound (LFU) and honey to attenuate biofilm production. A total of 100 samples were taken from different sources from Baghdad hospitals. The susceptibility patterns revealed the percentage of pan drug resistant (PDR) isolates were 1.5 %, 72.7 % were extended drug resistant (XDR), 16.7 % were multidrug resistant (MDR), and 9.1 % were non MDR and sensitive to most antibiotics used. The ability to form
... Show MoreTo evaluate the bioactivity and the cytocompatibility of experimental Bioglass-reinforced polyethylene-based root-canal filling materials. The thermal properties of the experimental materials were also evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry, while their radiopacity was assessed using a grey-scale value (GSV) aluminium step wedge and a phosphor plate digital system. Bioglass 45S5 (BAG), polyethylene and Strontium oxide (SrO) were used to create tailored composite fibres. The filler distribution within the composites was assessed using SEM, while their bioactivity was evaluated through infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) after storage in simulated body fluid (SBF). The radiopacity of the composite fibres and their thermal properties were
... Show MoreBlastocystis is a ubiquitous human and animal protozoa that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Metronidazole is considered the standard drug for the treatment of Blastocystis infection; however, there is growing evidence of treatment failure, hazardous side effects, and appearance of strains resistant to metronidazole. In the last era, many studies have been implicated in the quest for new treatments for Blastocystis infection, especially natural products. Attention has been focused on the effect of Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seed on eradicating parasitic infections. The current work was built up to explore the in vitro efficacy of two natural compounds, Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seeds against
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