Boswellia sacra Flueck. oleoresin extract (frankincense) has traditionally been used in the treatment of different diseases, but there are no sufficient studies on its potential activity against periodontal pathogens. Therefore, antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of frankincense extract against Porphyromonas gingivalis clinical isolates were studied. The phytochemical composition of the volatile components of the extract was identified by GC-MS analysis revealing 49 compounds as trans-nerolidyl formate, cycloartenol acetate, ursenoic acid 3-oxomethyl ester, bisabolene epoxide, and kaur-16-ene. It decreased the growth and increased the leakage of nucleotides in 58.3% and 33.3% of isolates, respectively. Additionally, it reduced the extracellular polysaccharide production and the cell surface hydrophobicity in 41.67% and 50% of the isolates, respectively. Crystal violet assay revealed inhibition of biofilm formation by the tested isolates. Light microscope and scanning electron microscope were used to examine the biofilms and they confirmed the reduction of biofilm formation by frankincense extract. Downregulation of the genes linked to biofilm formation (fimA, hagA, and hagB) was observed using qRT-PCR after treatment with the frankincense extract. This study suggested that the frankincense extract could exhibit antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against P. gingivalis isolates. Thus, the frankincense extract could be used as a treatment approach for periodontitis.

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The ultimate goal of the present study was, to evaluate the effectiveness of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ 10) supplementation as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in reducing gingival inflammation and periodontal tissue destruction in chronic periodontitis patients with type II diabetes mellitus (DM). Material and Methods: Thirty patients with chronic periodontitis and type II DM were equally divided into 2 groups. Group I received scaling and root planing plus placebo capsule for 3 months and groups II received scaling and root planing and Coenzyme Q10 for 3 months. Bleeding on probing and gingival index were taken at baseline,1, 3 and 6 months' evaluation periods while probing pocket depth, clinical attachment loss at baseline, 3 and 6 months only. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected for measuring matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) in GCF at baseline,1, 3 and 6 months' evaluation periods. Results: Statistical analyses demonstrated a significant reduction in clinical parameters from baseline to 6 months in group II (test group) as compared to their baseline value P<0.001, while control group showed improvement in clinical parameters up to 3 months only followed by statistically insignificant increase in the mean scores of the tested parameters at 6 months as compared to baseline values P>0.05. Intergroup comparison showed statistically significant differences between the two studied groups at all the study evaluation periods in favor to group II (test group). GCF-MMP-8 levels showed statistically significant continual reduction from baseline up to 3 months followed by slight increase at 6 months which is still below baseline value for both group P<0.001 with statistically highly significant differences between the two groups in favor to group II (test group) which showed the highest significant reduction in the mean MMP-8 score at all the study evaluation periods (P = 0.000). Conclusions: from the results of the present study it is clear that dietary supplementation with CoQ 10 may provide a low-cost intervention to augment periodontal therapy. Hence, CoQ 10 as an antioxidant could be used safely as an effective adjunct to oral prophylaxis in treatment of chronic periodontitis in diabetic patients.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Vitamin D (Vit D) supplementation to topical corticosteroids in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP) among postmenopausal women. Thirty post-menopaus al women, their ages ranging between 45-65 years, diagnosed with any form of Oral lichen planus and presenting with serum 25 Hydroxyvitamin D levels below 30ng/ ml were randomly allocated into one of two groups (15 patients each) and treated as follows: The control group I, received topical cortisone alone; The experimental group II, who were treated with topical cortisone supplemented with Vit D every week for one month. Serum level of TNF-α, clinical and pain scores were carried out at the time of the initial visit and at 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Results showed improvement in clinical score. Both treatment modalities resulted in a statistically significant decrease in pain score, and TNF-α (P < 0.001) compared to the baseline values. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05) at any evaluation period for the pain score, while TNF-α showed statistically significant differences at 4 weeks only in favor to group II (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, it can be concluded that Vit D supplementation to conventional therapy can help in treating OLP among post-menopausal women. Attention must be given to educate the women in this critical age to pay attention to Vit D deficiency to avoid such serious diseases.

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