Saturday, July 12, 2014

Propolis in Dentistry and Oral Cancer Management

N Am J Med Sci, 2014 Jun;6(6):250-9
Propolis, known as bee glue, is a wax-cum-resin substance, which is created out of a mix of buds from some trees with the substance secreted from the bee's glands. Its diverse chemical content is responsible for many valuable properties. Multiple applications of propolis have been studied and described in detail for centuries. However, currently available information on propolis is scarce. A literature search in the PubMed database was performed for English language articles, using the search terms propolis, oral health, dentistry, and oral cancer; no restrictions were used for publication dates. The aim of the article was to review propolis and its applications in dentistry including oral cancer…
Oral cancer is a public health problem. The use of natural substances such as propolis aims to search for chemoprevention with fewer side effects. Desirable effects of propolis on the treatment of oral cancer are regression of tumors by stimulating multicellular immunity, prevention of metastasis, speeding up apoptosis of cancer cells, mitosis-suppressing effect, anti-angiogenesis effect, immunomodulatory effect, and antioxidant effect. Propolis maintains high circulating levels of chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-FU and MMC, thus reducing the dose of these drugs. When concurrently administered with propolis, the dose and side effects of these chemotherapeutic drugs are reduced; the cytopenia resulting from these drugs is ameliorated by administration of propolis via increasing WBC and RBC counts in peripheral blood. Propolis also has radioprotective effect. Flavonoid quercetin in propolis potentiates the growth-inhibitory activity on tumors.

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