What was tested
Yuanita, Prasetyo, Juniarti, and colleagues at Airlangga University asked whether an anchovy (Stolephorus insularis) nano-extract could improve calcium hydroxide as a pulp-capping material. They created 2 combinations: calcium hydroxide mixed with the extract in a 1:1 ratio, and a 1:2 ratio. Calcium hydroxide with distilled water served as the control. The team exposed the pulp of the maxillary right first molar in 54 Wistar rats, placed one of the 3 materials, and sacrificed animals at 7, 14, or 21 days. Six rats were in each of the 9 subgroups. Specimens were scored histopathologically for odontoblast-like cells (OLCs) and by immunohistochemistry for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression. The analysis used one-way ANOVA plus Tukey HSD, with significance set at p < 0.05.
What the study found
Both anchovy-containing mixtures outperformed calcium hydroxide alone on every measurement day.
For OLC counts, the control group stayed flat: 2.33 ± 1.11 cells at day 7, 3.00 ± 0.82 at day 14, and 3.83 ± 1.34 at day 21. The 1:1 extract group reached 7.00 ± 1.41, 8.66 ± 1.97, and 7.00 ± 1.29 over the same intervals. The 1:2 group reached 6.33 ± 1.49, 9.66 ± 1.25, and 10.16 ± 1.07. Both extract groups differed from control at every time point (p = 0.000 for 1:1; p = 0.001 on day 7 and p = 0.000 on days 14 and 21 for 1:2). The only significant difference between the 2 extract ratios was on day 14, when the 1:2 group scored higher (p = 0.034). The 1:1 group showed its significant rise only by day 21, while the 1:2 group had already risen by day 14.
For ALP expression, the control group again showed no significant change (4.50 ± 2.22, 4.16 ± 1.07, and 2.83 ± 1.07). The 1:1 extract group rose to 8.50 ± 1.71, 9.00 ± 1.92, and 11.83 ± 1.57. The 1:2 group rose to 9.66 ± 1.25, 9.33 ± 1.70, and 13.50 ± 2.06. Both extract groups beat control on every day, with the highest values at day 21. There was no significant difference between the 1:1 and 1:2 ratios for ALP at any time point. The figure caption identifies the ALP signal as appearing in macrophage cells, not in newly differentiated odontoblasts.
Boundary of the result
The experiment is a rat pulp-capping model, not a human clinical outcome. It measures short-term histologic and immunohistochemical markers over 3 weeks, not long-term dentin bridge quality, pulp vitality, or restorative success. The extract itself is described only as an anchovy nano-extract; the paper does not identify which molecules drive the effect, report dose-response beyond the 2 ratios, or compare the material against modern pulp-capping agents such as mineral trioxide aggregate or biodentine. The authors attribute the benefit partly to calcium and phosphorus that could support hydroxyapatite formation, but that mechanism is speculative here.
Where it sits in the field
The result belongs to the broader pulp and dentine repair program, where the field is still looking for capping materials that reliably recruit pulp progenitors and mineralize without cytotoxicity. Natural-product extracts are a crowded sub-theme, and this study adds a positive rat dataset to that pile. It does not move the program toward a human therapy by itself, but it does provide a bounded, measurable signal that can be tested against better-characterized competitors in head-to-head studies.
Source: Yuanita T, Prasetyo EP, Juniarti DE, et al. Effectiveness of a combination of calcium hydroxide and the anchovy nano-extract on the odontoblast-like cell count and alkaline phosphatase expression in rats’ dental pulp. Dent Med Probl. 2026;63(4):925-932. doi:10.17219/dmp/207665. Primary source retrieved from the publisher PDF and verified against PubMed record PMID 42635267. See /method/ for how this site handles source verification.