Effect of Phyllanthus emblica Linn. on candida adhesion to oral epithelium and denture acrylic

Objective: To investigate the effect of Phyllanthus emblica (P. emblica) Linn. ethanolic extract on the adhesion of Candida albicans (C. albicans) to human buccal epithelial cells (BECs) and denture acrylic surfaces. Methods: Human BECs and transparent acrylic strips were pretreated with ethanolic extract solution of P. emblica fruits at concentration ranged from 18.7 to 300 mg/mL. After washing BECs and the strips were inoculated with three strains of C. albicans (ATCC 10281 and two clinical isolates) (10(7) cells/mL). Normal saline solution (NSS) and 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate were used as negative and positive controls, respectively. BECs were harvested on 12 mu m-polycarbonate filters (Millipore, USA). The membrane filters and the strips were stained with Gram stain. Adherent yeast cells on 100 randomly selected epithelial cells and 20 randomly selected fields on each strip were counted under microscope. The statistical significance was calculated by Kruskal-Wallis and Tukey tests at a significant level of P<0.05. Results: Significant lower numbers of all strains of yeasts adhering to BECs and acrylic strips were observed after exposure to 75-300 mg/mL of plant extract compared with NSS. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that P. emblica ethanolic extract interferes with the adhesion of C. albicans to BECs and denture acrylic surfaces in vitro.