Preparation of glass-ionomer cement containing ethanolic Brazilian pepper extract (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) fruits: chemical and biological assays
Isabelle C. Pinto, Janaína Brandão Seibert, Luciano da Silva Pinto, Vagner Rodrigues Santos, Rafaela Felix de Sousa, Lucas Resende Dutra Sousa, Tatiane Roquete Amparo, Viviane Martins Rebello dos Santos, Andréa Mendes do Nascimento, Gustavo Henrique Bianco de Souza, Walison Arthuso Vasconcellos, Paula Melo de Abreu Vieira, Ângela Leão Andrade
Abstract
Abstract Plants may contain beneficial or potentially dangerous substances to humans. This study aimed to prepare and evaluate a new drug delivery system based on a glass-ionomer-Brazilian pepper extract composite, to check for its activity against pathogenic microorganisms of the oral cavity, along with its in vitro biocompatibility. The ethanolic Brazilian pepper extract (BPE), the glass-ionomer cement (GIC) and the composite GIC-BPE were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and thermal analysis. The BPE compounds were identified by UPLC–QTOF–MS/MS. The release profile of flavonoids and the mechanical properties of the GIC-BPE composite were assessed. The flavonoids were released through a linear mechanism governing the diffusion for the first 48 h, as evidenced by the M t /M ∞ relatively to $$\sqrt t$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msqrt> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:msqrt> </mml:math> , at a diffusion coefficient of 1.406 × 10 –6 cm 2 s −1 . The ATR-FTIR analysis indicated that a chemical bond between the GIC and BPE components may have occurred, but the compressive strength of GIC-BPE does not differ significantly from that of this glass-ionomer. The GIC-BPE sample revealed an ample bacterial activity at non-cytotoxic concentrations for the human fibroblast MRC-5 cells. These results suggest that the prepared composite may represent an alternative agent for endodontic treatment.