In vitro re-hardening of artificial enamel caries lesions using enamel matrix proteins or self-assembling peptides

ABSTRACT Objectives To assess the re-hardening potential of enamel matrix derivatives (EMD) and self-assembling peptides in vitro, hypothesizing that these materials may increase the mineralization of artificial carious lesions and improve hardness profiles. Material and Methods Forty-eight enamel samples were prepared from extracted bovine lower central incisors. After embedding and polishing, nail varnish was applied, leaving a defined test area. One third of this area was covered with a flowable composite (non-demineralized control). The remaining area was demineralized in an acidic buffer solution for 18 d to simulate a carious lesion. Half the demineralized area was then covered with composite (demineralized control), while the last third was left open for three test and one control treatments: (A) Application of enamel-matrix proteins (EMD - lyophilized protein fractions dissolved in acetic acid, Straumann), (B) self-assembling peptides (SAP, Curodont), or (C) amine fluoride solution (Am-F, GABA) for 5 min each. Untreated samples (D) served as control. After treatment, samples were immersed in artificial saliva for four weeks (remineralization phase) and microhardness (Knoop) depth profiles (25-300 µm) were obtained at sections. Two-way ANOVA was calculated to determine differences between the areas (re-hardening or softening). Results Decalcification resulted in significant softening of the subsurface enamel in all groups (A-D). A significant re-hardening up to 125 µm was observed in the EMD and SAP groups. Conclusions This study showed that EMD and SAP were able to improve the hardness profiles when applied to deep demineralized artificial lesions. However, further research is needed to verify and improve this observed effect

Effect of different concentration of Gibberellic and Proline acid in the growth and production of pea plant Pisum sativum L.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar spraying with gibberellic acid concentrations (0,50,100)mg.L­¹ and proline acid concentrations (0, 25, 50)mg.L­¹ and their interactions on some growth parameters of pea plant using clay pots in the botanical garden of Biology Department College of Education for pure science Ibn –Al-Haitham ,Baghdad University, for the growing season 2012-2013 the experiment involved the studing of some growth parameters as plant?s height, dry weight, wt. of pods.plant­¹, biology yield and the concentration of some major elements (nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium) in plant?s seeds. The experiment was designed according to Completely Randomized Desig(CRD) with three replications. Results revealed that foliar application with the concentrations of both acid caused a significant increase in the growth parameters, and the interaction gave a significant effect, the concentration 100 mg.L­¹ gibberellic acid and the concentration 50 mg.L­¹ proline gave the best value for plant?s height, dry weight, the concentration of nitrogen and calcium in plant?s seeds, but the concentration 100 mg.L­¹ gibberellic acid and the concentration 25 mg. L­¹ proline acid gave the higheat value for the concentration of phosphorus in plant?s seeds while the concentration 50 mg .L­¹ gibberellic acid and the concentration 25 mg.L­¹ proline gave the best values for wt. of pods.plant­¹, biology yield