Antibacterial Effect of Berberis Aquifolium Homeopathic Mother Tincture against Biofilm Formers from Dental Plaque

Scientific Study from the year 2021 in the subject Biology - Micro- and Molecular Biology, grade: A, Mahatma Gandhi University (St. Thomas College, Palai), language: English, abstract: Dental infection is being considered as one of the six most widespread non-communicable diseases throughout the world. Berberis aquifolium have shown positive antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory actions in several microbial studies. So, this study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of B. aquifolium against dental biofilm forming Streptococcus mutans and common oral pathogens. The dental caries samples were collected from 5 patients of age group 7-35yrs from Kottayam Dist., Kerala, under aseptic condition. All the collected plate samples were cultured on nutrient, blood and Mitis Salivary Agar plates and colonies were counted. Microbial species were identified on the basis of morphological and biochemical studies. Microbiological assay (agar well diffusion method and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) to determine inhibition zone against oral pathogens were performed. Thus this study concluded that the ethanolic extracts of B. aquifolium showed significant MIC against S. mutans, Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa compared to that of standard drug.