Biomedical Letters

Effect of Benzylisothiocyanate on acid production of salivary sediment

Nasir H AL Bagieh, Sara M AL Gahtani*

Department of Oral Medicine & Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Benzylisothiocyanate (BIT) is an aromatic compound extracted from the root of Salvadora Persica L. It has been found to have antibacterial effect against certain microorganisms. Salivary supernatant has buffering capacity that helps to reduce acid production and hence enamel demineralization. The effect of BIT on acid production by salivary sediment was investigated in the presence and absence of salivary supernatant. Six experiments were prepared as the following: (1) suspended salivary sediment (SSS) system (16.7%)(negative control), (2) glucose (positive control)(5%), (3) glucose and 100 μg/ml BIT, (4) salivary supernatant (33.3%), (5) salivary supernatant with glucose, (6) salivary supernatant , glucose and 100 μg/ml BIT. Incubation was done in a water bath at 37�C and pH was monitored at 15-minute intervals for a period of one hour. BIT at a concentration of 100 μg/ml had a slight inhibitory effect on acid production by SSS system. When the supernatant was added to the incubation mixture, a dramatic inhibitory effect on acid production was found. An additive effect on acid production inhibition was shown when both BIT and supernatant were added to the incubation mixture. The inhibitory action of BIT on acid production was almost the same in the absence and presence of supernatant. In conclusion, BIT like hypothiocyanate inhibits acid production by oral flora. In addition, BIT and salivary supernatant have an additive effect in preventing pH fall which helps to prevent enamel demineralization.

Keywords: Salivary sediment, benzylisothiocyanate, acid production.

Received October 21, 2015 Revised December 5, 2015 Accepted January 06, 2016

*Correspondence: Nasir AL Bagieh Email nbagieh@ksu.edu.sa Contact: +966 114677423 Fax: +966 -114695892