East java extract propolis as potential intracanal medicament in experimentally induced chronic apical periodontitis

A persistent infection after cleaning and shaping root canal is the main etiology of root canal treatment failure. Enterococcus faecalis has been considered as one of the most resistant species in root canal treatment. E. faecalis can stimulate receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL) which can increase nuclear factor of activated T-cell (NFATc1) in chronic apical periodontitis. East Java propolis has antibacterial effects and is biocompatible with in vitro effects.

This study is aimed to analyze the East Java propolis extract as potential intracanal medicament in chronic apical periodontitis caused by E. faecalis bacterial infection.

This study used 30 Wistar rats divided into three groups. In Group I, the first upper right molar tooth as healthy tooth was used for negative control group. In Group II, the first upper right molar tooth was used for a prepared root canal, and 10 ml brain heart infusion broth containing E. faecalis ATCC29212 10⁶ CFU was injected into the canal and restored with glass-ionomer cement (GIC) for the experimentally induced chronic apical periodontitis group. In Group III, after root canal preparation, E. faecalis ATCC 29212 10⁶ CFU was injected, and then, 10 μl propolis applied and tooth restored with GIC. It took 21 days for the periapical lesions to develop after pulp infection. The rats were then sacrificed to conduct immunohistochemical examinations in order to measure the expressions of RANKL and NFATc1.

The average of RANKL and NFATc1 expression in Group III was significantly lower than those in the experimentally induced chronic apical periodontitis group (P < 0.05).

It can be concluded that East Java propolis extract is a potential intracanal medicament through the study of experimentally induced chronic apical periodontitis caused by E. faecalis infection in Wistar rats.