Antimicrobial activity of flurbiprofen and ibuprofen in vitro against six common periodontal pathogens.

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as flurbiprofen and ibuprofen, have been shown to inhibit the inflammation and alveolar bone loss associated with chronic destructive periodontal disease. However, the direct effect of NSAIDs on the gingival crevice microflora has not been studied. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of ibuprofen and flurbiprofen in vitro on six commonly isolated periodontal pathogens. The bacterial strains evaluated were Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Bacteroides gingivalis, Bacteroides intermedius, Eikenella corrodens, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Wolinella recta. Pure cultures of these organisms were inoculated into broth, allowed to grow and inoculated again into sheep blood agar plates. For preliminary dose-response studies, antibiotic sensitivity blank disks loaded with 10 microliters of flurbiprofen 250 micrograms, 50 micrograms and 5 micrograms, or ibuprofen 500 micrograms, 50 micrograms and 5 micrograms were placed on the seeded agar plates. Clindamycin 2 micrograms disks were used as positive controls and discs loaded with only drug vehicle served as negative controls. In an attempt to estimate the minimal inhibitory concentrations of these NSAIDs on specific microorganisms, additional experiments employing intermediate drug dosages were also performed. Clindamycin produced large zones of inhibition for all bacterial strains except for Eikenella corrodens which is known to be resistant to the antibiotic and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans which appeared to be only moderately sensitive to the antibiotic. Zones of inhibition were not produced by any of the negative control disks or by the 5 micrograms or 50 micrograms doses of either NSAID.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)