title: Chemical constituent and antimicrobial effect of essential oil from Myrtus communis leaves on microorganisms involved in persistent endodontic infection compared to two common endodontic irrigants: An in vitro study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Persistent infections of human root canals play a fundamental role in the failure of endodontic treatment. The purpose of this study is to determine the chemical composition of Myrtus communis (M. communis) essential oil and to assess its antimicrobial activity against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans compared to that of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and chlorhexidine (CHX).
  
  
  METHODS
  Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to determine the chemical composition of essential oil from M. communis leaves. A micro-dilution susceptibility assay and disk diffusion methods were utilized to evaluate the antimicrobial activity [minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal dose concentration] of the tested solutions against selected microorganisms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GC-MS analyses revealed that M. communis contained 1, 8-Cineole (28.62%), α-Pinene (17.8%), Linalool (17.55%), and Geranylacetate (6.3%) as the major compounds and Geraniol (1.6%), α-Humulene (1.5%), eugenol (1.3%), isobutyl-isobutyrate (0.8%), and methyl chavicol (0.5%) as minor components. Chlorhexidine had the lowest MIC value among all medicaments tested. M. communis oil had less MIC values than NaOCl against both bacteria, but it had more MIC value against C. albicans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  M. communis essential oil with the minimum inhibitory concentration in the range of 0.032-32 μg/mL was an effective antimicrobial agent against persistent endodontic microorganisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nabavizadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbaszadegan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran ; Pharmaceutical Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gholami
authors.affiliation: Undergraduate Student, Student Research Center Committee, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sheikhiani
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shokouhi
authors.affiliation: Department of Endodontics, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi Sedigh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shams
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran ; Pharmaceutical Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Younes
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
keywords: Antibacterial activity; Myrtus communis; chlorhexidin; root canal irrigant; sodium hypochlorite