Este trabalho teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão de literatura sobre o gênero Copaifera sp. Foi realizado levantamento bibliográfico do período de 1792 a 2008 utilizando bibliotecas da Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Universidade Federal de Alfenas e Universidade José do Rosário Vellano, pesquisas às bases de dados SCOPUS e PubMed, além de ferramentas de busca na web. Utilizou-se para a busca palavras chave como "Copaiba", "Copaifera", "Copaíba oil" "Óleo de Copaíba". Como resultado desta pesquisa obteve-se a seleção de 63 referências incluindo livros, artigos, cadernos técnicos, resumos de congressos, teses, dissertações e patentes. Estes dados apontaram o óleo de copaíba como um exsudato produzido pelas copaibeiras como defesa contra seus predadores, que vem sendo utilizado pela medicina tradicional popular e silvícola há mais de 500 anos. Ele é extraído destas árvores através de perfurações realizadas em seus troncos. Além das inúmeras aplicações do óleo em cosméticos e outras indústrias, ainda há uma série de indicações para seu uso na medicina. Existem hoje descritas algumas dezenas de propriedades medicinais diferentes, que vem sendo em alguns casos comprovadas cientificamente, como atividade antimicrobiana, antiinflamatória, anti-neoplásica entre outras. Estudos recentes têm demonstrado também grande potencial de uso do óleo de copaíba na odontologia, na composição de cimentos endodônticos e na prevenção e combate da doença periodontal. As informações contidas neste trabalho demonstram uma grande variabilidade de aplicações do óleo de copaíba. Entretanto uma quantidade limitada de pesquisas sobre suas propriedades medicinais tem sido realizada, apresentando assim a necessidade de novas pesquisas sobre estas.

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ObjectivesTo compare the effects of stannous (Sn) and fluoride (F) ions and their combination on acquired enamel pellicle (AEP) protein composition (proteome experiment), and protection against dental erosion (functional experiment).MethodsIn the proteome experiment, bovine enamel specimens were incubated in whole saliva supernatant for 24h for AEP formation. They were randomly assigned to 4 groups (n=10), according to the rinse treatment: Sn (800ppm/6.7mM, SnCl2), F (225ppm/13mM, NaF), Sn and F combination (Sn+F) and deionized water (DIW, negative control). The specimens were immersed 3× in the test rinses for 2min, 2h apart. Pellicles were collected, digested, and analyzed for protein content using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. In the functional experiment, bovine enamel specimens (n=10) were similarly treated for pellicle formation. Then, they were subjected to a five-day erosion cycling model, consisting of 5min erosive challenges (15.6 mM citric acid, pH 2.6, 6×/d) and 2min treatment with the rinses containing Sn, F or Sn+F (3×/d). Between the treatments, all specimens were incubated in whole saliva supernatant. Surface loss was determined by profilometry.ResultsOur proteome approach on bovine enamel identified 72 proteins that were common to all groups. AEP of enamel treated with Sn+F demonstrated higher abundance for most of the identified proteins than the other groups. The functional experiment showed reduction of enamel surface loss for Sn+F (89%), Sn (67%) and F (42%) compared to DIW (all significantly different, p<0.05).ConclusionThis study highlighted that anti-erosion rinses (e.g. Sn+F) can modify quantitatively and qualitatively the AEP formed on bovine enamel. Moreover, our study demonstrated a combinatory effect that amplified the anti-erosive protection on tooth surface.

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This study evaluated the inhibitory activity of copaiba oil (Copaifera officinalis against the cariogenic microorganism, Streptococcus mutans. For such purpose, a minimum inhibition concentration test of copaiba oil against S. mutans was performed, using the serial dilution in broth technique, with a negative control, a positive control (0.12% chlorhexidine) and a 10% copaíba oil solution as a test. A minimum bactericidal concentration test with tubes presenting microbial inhibition was also conduced. In the minimum inhibitory concentration test, copaiba oil showed inhibition of bacterial growth at all concentrations tested up to 0.78 µL/mL of the 10% copaiba oil solution in the broth. In addition, the negative control had no inhibition, and the 0.12% chlorhexidine solution was effective up to 6.25 µL/mL in the broth. Copaiba oil showed a bacteriostatic activity against S. mutans at low concentrations, and could be a an option of phytotherapic agent to be used against cariogenic bacteria in the prevention of caries disease.

In our recent studies, we have shown that in vivo-acquired enamel pellicle is a sophisticated biological structure containing a significant portion of naturally occurring salivary peptides. From a functional aspect, the identification of peptides in the acquired enamel pellicle is of interest because many salivary proteins exhibit functional domains that maintain the activities of the native protein. Among the in vivo-acquired enamel pellicle peptides that have been newly identified, 5 peptides are derived from statherin. Here, we assessed the ability of these statherin pellicle peptides to inhibit hydroxyapatite crystal growth. In addition, atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to better understand the underlying physical mechanisms of hydroxyapatite growth inhibition. A microplate colorimetric assay was used to quantify hydroxyapatite growth. Statherin protein, 5 statherin-derived peptides, and a peptide lacking phosphate at residues 2 and 3 were analyzed. Statherin peptide phosphorylated on residues 2 and 3 indicated a significant inhibitory effect when compared with the 5 other peptides (P < 0.05). MD simulations showed a strong affinity and fast adsorption to hydroxyapatite for phosphopeptides, whereas unphosphorylated peptides interacted weakly with the hydroxyapatite. Our data suggest that the presence of a covalently linked phosphate group (at residues 2 and 3) in statherin peptides modulates the effect of hydroxyapatite growth inhibition. This study provides a mechanism to account for the composition and function of acquired enamel pellicle statherin peptides that will contribute as a base for the development of biologically stable and functional synthetic peptides for therapeutic use against dental caries and/or periodontal disease.

 RESUMOO potencial de uso do óleo de copaíba (Copaifera officinalis) na prevenção da doença periodontal, eliminando seu agente etiológico, foi avaliado em 18 cães sem raça definida, distribuídos homogeneamente em três grupos: teste, (contendo óleo de copaíba) controle positivo e controle negativo. Os tratamentos ocorreram três vezes ao dia, durante oito dias. Ao nono dia, os animais receberam aplicação tópica de fucsina básica 0,5% para evidenciação do biofilme. Mudanças na halitose e gengivite foram avaliadas diariamente por inspeção visual. Adicionalmente, foram realizados testes laboratoriais de inibição de aderência de Streptococcus mutans e ensaio antimicrobiano de difusão em ágar, sobre bactérias formadoras de placa dental. Os resultados da placa evidenciada apontaram áreas de cobertura microbiana nos dentes de 53,4±8,8%, 28,5±5,4%, e 22,3±5,3% para os grupos negativo, positivo e teste, respectivamente, indicando diferença entre o controle negativo e os demais grupos (P<0,05). Quanto à melhora nos aspectos clínicos, halitose e gengivite, o grupo teste respondeu melhor quando comparado ao grupo controle negativo (P<0,05). A análise dos ensaios de difusão e inibição de aderência mostrou superioridade do grupo da copaíba (teste) em relação aos outros grupos (P<0,05). Os resultados sugerem o uso do óleo de copaíba na prevenção da doença periodontal e como um possível substituto da clorexidina na terapia antimicrobiana oral.Palavras-chave: cão, gengivite, placa dentária, odontologia preventiva ABSTRACT The copaiba oil (Copaifera officinalis) potential was evaluated in preventing periodontal disease and reducing its etiology. For that 18 mongrel dogs were homogeneously distributed in three groups

Candida albicans is the most pathogenic fungal species, commonly colonizing on human mucosal surfaces. As a polymorphic species, C. albicans is capable of switching between yeast and hyphal forms, causing an array of mucosal and disseminated infections with high mortality. While the yeast form is most commonly associated with systemic disease, the hyphae are more adept at adhering to and penetrating host tissue and are therefore frequently observed in mucosal fungal infections, most commonly oral candidiasis. The formation of a saliva-derived protein pellicle on the mucosa surface can provide protection against C. albicans on oral epithelial cells, and narrow information is available on the mucosal pellicle composition. Histatins are one of the most abundant salivary proteins and presents antifungal and antibacterial activities against many species of the oral microbiota, however, its presence has never been studied in oral mucosa pellicle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of histatin 5 to protect the Human Oral Epithelium against C. albicans adhesion. Human Oral Epithelial Tissues (HOET) were incubated with PBS containing histatin 5 for 2 h, followed by incubation with C. albicans for 1 h at 37°C. The tissues were then washed several times in PBS, transferred to fresh RPMI and incubated for 16 h at 37°C at 5% CO2. HOET were then prepared for histopathological analysis using light microscopy. In addition, the TUNEL assay was employed to evaluate the apoptosis of epithelial cells using fluorescent microscopy. HOET pre-incubated with histatin 5 showed a lower rate of C. albicans growth and cell apoptosis when compared to the control groups (HOET alone and HOET incubated with C. albicans). The data suggest that the coating with histatin 5 is able to reduce C. albicans colonization on epithelial cell surfaces and also protect the basal cell layers from undergoing apoptosis.