{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T19:21:48Z","timestamp":1792696908861,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Dent. Med."],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n \n Endodontic infection in primary teeth is a multimicrobial disease involving a rich combination of bacterial species. The secondary metabolites from the medicinal plant\n Phyllanthus niruri<\/jats:italic>\n L. have antimicrobial properties. This\n in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n research evaluated the antimicrobial activity of\n P. niruri<\/jats:italic>\n and its mode of action against\n Enterococcus faecalis<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n Porphyromonas gingivalis<\/jats:italic>\n , and\n Treponema denticola<\/jats:italic>\n .\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methodology<\/jats:title>\n \n The antimicrobial activities of an ethanolic extract of\n P. niruri<\/jats:italic>\n and a triple antibiotic paste (TAP) as a positive control were evaluated using the disc diffusion method, and their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacterial concentration were determined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to observe the cellular damage induced by the extract. A one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's\n post hoc<\/jats:italic>\n test was used to compare the mean zone of inhibition for all three microbes. The level of significance was set at\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009&lt;\u20090.05.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The herbal extract of\n P. niruri<\/jats:italic>\n had the highest inhibitory effects against\n T. denticola<\/jats:italic>\n (16.06\u2009\u00b1\u20093.13), followed by\n P. gingivalis<\/jats:italic>\n (14.54\u2009\u00b1\u20092.28\u2005mm), and\n E. faecalis<\/jats:italic>\n (10.10\u2009\u00b1\u20090.71\u2005mm). However, it was less than the TAP (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009&lt;\u20090.001).\n P. niruri<\/jats:italic>\n exhibited bacteriostatic potential with its MIC against all microbes. Furthermore, SEM and TEM found severe membrane deformation and extensive cytoplasmic leakage in\n T. denticola<\/jats:italic>\n and\n P. gingivalis<\/jats:italic>\n compared to\n E. faecalis<\/jats:italic>\n .\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n \n Based on the study results, a 250\u2005mg\/mL concentration of\n P. niruri<\/jats:italic>\n could be beneficial as a potential medicament for reducing root canal pathogens.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdmed.2026.1696836","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T06:32:31Z","timestamp":1772433151000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Antimicrobial mechanism of Phyllanthus niruri L. against oral pathogens: a scanning and transmission electron microscopy study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Vanishree H.","family":"Shivakumar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, SEGi University","place":["Kota Damansara, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anand S.","family":"Tegginamani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, SEGi University","place":["Kota Damansara, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raghavendra M.","family":"Shetty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Dentistry, Ajman University","place":["Ajman, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annapurny","family":"Venkiteswaran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA","place":["Sungai Buloh, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nurhayati","family":"Mohamad Zain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA","place":["Sungai Buloh, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nurul \u2018Izzah Mohd","family":"Sarmin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Atta-ur-Rahman Institute for Natural Product Discovery, Universiti Teknologi MARA","place":["Puncak Alam, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zolkapli","family":"Eshak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA","place":["Puncak Alam, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eddy Hasrul","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA","place":["Sungai Buloh, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"217","article-title":"The success of emergency pulpotomies in 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