Antibacterial Effects of Enoxolone on Periodontopathogenic and Capnophilic Bacteria Isolated from Specimens of Periodontitis Patients

Enoxolone is a major component of a traditional plant called Licorice. This substance has been found to contain some pharmaceutical properties including of both antiviral and antifungal activities. Microbiological studies have identified more than seven periodontopathogens in the periodontal pockets, which less than 4 species were capnophile. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro antibacterial effects of enoxolone against isolated periodontopathogenic and capnophilic bacteria. Total specimens were collected with sterile paper points from the deepest periodontal pockets of 400 patients, and cultured under capnophilic condition using selective media. The isolates were characterized to species level by conventional biochemical tests. Antibacterial activities of enoxolone against those microorganisms were investigated by determining minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods. In this study, 186 species of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (46.5%), 120 species of Eikenella corrodens (30%) and 136 Capnocytophaga species (34%) were isolated from specimens of periodontitis patients. The rate of periodontitis specimens associated with monobacteria and polybacteria were 105 (26.3%) and 158 (39.5%), respectively. The MIC of enoxolone was 8, 16 and 8 mg/ml for A. actinomycetemcomitans, E. corrodens and Capnocytophaga species, respectively and the MBC was 16 mg/ml for all species. It is concluded that enoxolone with above mentioned concentration is effective against isolated periodontopathogenic and capnophilic bacteria.