ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest to develop antimicrobial aids from alternative sources such as medicinal plants for the treatment of infectious diseases. Neem and clove are known to have antimicrobial properties. AIM: The study aimed at detecting the antibacterial and antifungal activity of neem and clove extract against Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Strains of S. mutans and C. albicans and selective media for growing micro-organisms were procured. Antimicrobial activity was assessed using two methods, by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using the broth dilution method and determining the zone of inhibition using well diffusion method on mitis salivarius bacitracin selective for S. mutans and Saboraud's dextrose agar plates for C. albicans. One way ANOVA with post hoc analysis was done to compare the antimicrobial activity of extracts and 0.2% chlorhexidine. RESULTS: MIC of neem extract was found to be 4.2 mg/ml and 5.0 mg/ml against S. mutans and C. albicans, respectively. While for cloves, it was 5.5 mg/ml for both. Neem had the highest antibacterial activity with a mean zone of inhibition of 11.4 mm followed by chlorhexidine and cloves whereas antifungal activity was highest for chlorhexidine (14.4 mm) followed by neem and clove. CONCLUSION: The result of the study established that both plant extracts possess antimicrobial activity against common microbes present in the oral cavity.
ABSTRACT
Older Indian diabetics lack proper health literacy making them vulnerable to complications. Assessment of health literacy was done by hospital-based cross-sectional study. Face-to-face interview was conducted by pretested structured questionnaires. Diabetes patients aged ≥60 years consisted of 56.22% males and 43.78% females; in addition, 34.2% respondents were without formal schooling. Diabetes was known to 63.56% respondents. Total knowledge and practice score of the respondents was good (18.9% and 35.1%), average (30.7% and 46.9%), and poor (50.4% and 18%), respectively. Knowledge and practice score was strongly associated ( P < .01) with religion, educational status, and diabetes duration with positive relationship ( R2 = 0.247, P < .01) between knowledge and practice score. The study highlights lack of health literacy among older diabetics undergoing ayurveda management. Baseline statistics will pave the way toward ayurpharmacoepidemiology.
