ANTIMICROBIAL SCREENING OF ZINC IN THE ABSENCE OR PRESENCE OF OLEORESINS AND VARIOUS RESIN ACIDS

Zinc and oleoresins are the main components of several wound dressings , and are also frequently used in root canal treatment. The in vitro a ntibacterial effects of zinc, six highly purified resin acids and two commercial oleoresins alone or combined in varying proportions were an alysed. Oleoresins are composed of approximately 90% resin acids and t he most common acids were included in this study. The antibacterial ac tivity of the various chemicals was estimated using a Bioscreen robot analyser, which allowed 24 h kinetic documentation of bacterial growth . The bacteria employed were reference species commonly occurring on h uman skin or of oral origin. Zinc as well as the oleoresins and the pu re resin acids all showed antibacterial activity when present in growt h media, but the sensitivity of the bacteria varied. The presence of r esin acids and oleoresins increased the antibacterial effect of zinc t o varying degrees depending on the combination and the bacterial speci es tested. The results of the present study indicate that zinc, resin acids, or oleoresins alone, as well as combined, show antibacterial ac tivity against selected aerobic Gram-positive and anaerobic Gram-negat ive bacteria.