ZINC AS A GROWTH-FACTOR FOR ASPERGILLUS SP AND THE ANTIFUNGAL EFFECTSOF ROOT-CANAL SEALANTS

Noninvasive aspergillosis of the maxillary sinus is frequently associa ted with extrusion of root canal cements into the sinus, and it has be en suggested that zinc oxide-based materials might promote infection b ecause zinc is a growth factor for Aspergillus sp. To investigate this possibility pure zinc oxide-eugenol cement and five other cements wer e tested for antifungal activity against five strains of Aspergillus f umigatus, one strain of A. niger, and one strain of A. flavus by zone inhibition and by spectrophotometric measurement of growth rates at va rious zinc concentrations. All cements had antifungal activity. Eugeno l-containing materials had the most activity, but this activity was re duced with mixing and setting. No growth enhancement attributable to z inc was detected by either method. To determine whether contaminated m aterials might introduce spores into the sinus, 63 samples taken from one clinic were cultured. Aspergillus sp. was isolated from two.