Polystyrene nanoplastics at predicted environmental concentrations enhance the toxicity of copper on Caenorhabditis elegans.

Excessive nanoplastics not only pose a direct threat to the environment but also have the propensity to adsorb and interact with other pollutants, exacerbating their impact. The coexistence of nanoplastics and heavy metals in soils is a prevalent phenomenon. However, limited research existed about the joint effects of the two contaminants on soil organisms. In this paper, we ascertained the combined toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and copper (Cu2+) on soil organisms (Caenorhabditis elegans) at quantities that were present in the environment, further exploring whether the two toxicants were synergistic or antagonistic. The outcomes manifested that single exposure to low-dose PS-NPs (1 µg/L) would not cause significant damage to nematodes. After treatment with PS-NPs and Cu2+, the locomotion ability of nematode was impaired, accompanied by an elevation in reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and a biphasic response in antioxidant enzyme activity. Moreover, combined exposure to PS-NPs and Cu2+ induced the mRNA up-regulation of vit-6, cyp-35a2, hsp-16.2, age-1, and cep-1, both of which were stress-related genes. The comparative analysis between groups (with or without PS-NPs) revealed that the combined exposure group resulted in significantly greater toxic effects on nematodes compared with Cu2+ exposure alone. Furthermore, the addition of PS-NPs influenced the metabolic profiles of Caenorhabditis elegans under Cu2+ stress, with numerous differential metabolites associated with oxidative damage or defense mechanism. Overall, these findings manifested that PS-NPs at the expected environmental concentration elevated Cu2+ toxicity on nematodes.

Are parents' education levels associated with either their oral health knowledge or their children's oral health behaviors? A survey of 8446 families in Wuhan.

BACKGROUND: Children aged 6-7 years are in the early mixed dentition, which is a period of high prevalence of dental caries and other dental diseases and a critical period for the formation of oral health behaviors. Therefore, good oral hygiene habits of children and oral health knowledge of parents are very important. This study sought to explore the relationship between children's oral health behaviors, parental oral health knowledge, parental choices of pit and fissure sealants, and parents' education levels based on a large-scale sample size for the first time, and to compare the influences of parental education levels between parents. METHODS: Families of the first and second graders of primary schools in Wuhan Hongshan District were included in this study. A total of 8446 questionnaires were collected to obtain comprehensive information on children's oral health behaviors, parents' oral health knowledge and parents' pit and fissure sealants-related choices. The relationship between these outcome variables and parents' education levels were studied using logistic regression analysis and chi-square test. RESULTS: Parents who reported good educational background had more favorable oral health knowledge than those of other parents, and their children had better oral hygiene behaviors. Four indicators of five measures to children's oral health behaviors were significantly associated with mother's education level (P < 0.05), and three of them were related to father's education level (P ≤ 0.01). Moreover, seven indicators of eight measures to parents' oral health knowledge were significantly related to mother's education level (P < 0.05) and four of them were affected by the father's (P < 0.05). In addition, parents with higher educational attainments paid more attention to the completeness of medical facilities, the environment of dental practice, the distance to treatment sites, and took less concern of children's willingness when choosing the pit and fissure sealants sites. CONCLUSIONS: In families with children at the early mixed dentition stage, parents with higher education levels tend to have better oral health knowledge and more oral health care needs, such as pit and fissure sealants. In addition, children of parents who have better educated parents tend to perform better oral hygiene practices.

ROS-Induced Gingival Fibroblast Senescence: Implications in Exacerbating Inflammatory Responses in Periodontal Disease.

Periodontal disease is the pathological outcome of the overwhelming inflammation in periodontal tissue. Cellular senescence has been associated with chronic inflammation in several diseases. However, the role of cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease remained unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role and the mechanism of cellular senescence in periodontal disease. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we first found the upregulated level of cellular senescence in fibroblasts and endothelial cells from inflamed gingival tissue. Subsequently, human gingival fibroblasts isolated from healthy and inflamed gingival tissues were labeled as H-GFs and I-GFs, respectively. Compared to H-GFs, I-GFs exhibited a distinct cellular senescence phenotype, including an increased proportion of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) positive cells, enlarged cell morphology, and significant upregulation of p16INK4A expression. We further observed increased cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity, mitochondrial ROS, and DNA damage of I-GFs. These phenotypes could be reversed by ROS scavenger NAC, which suggested the cause of cellular senescence in I-GFs. The migration and proliferation assay showed the decreased activity of I-GFs while the gene expression of senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors such as IL-1ß, IL-6, TGF-ß, and IL-8 was all significantly increased. Finally, we found that supernatants of I-GF culture induced more neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation and drove macrophage polarization toward the CD86-positive M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype. Altogether, our findings implicate that, in the inflamed gingiva, human gingival fibroblasts acquire a senescent phenotype due to oxidative stress-induced DNA and mitochondrial damage, which in turn activate neutrophils and macrophages through the secretion of SASP factors.

Comparison of the osteogenic potential of fibroblasts from different sources.

OBJECTIVE: With the growing interest in the role of fibroblasts in osteogenesis, this study presents a comparative evaluation of the osteogenic potential of fibroblasts derived from three distinct sources: human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs), mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH3T3 cells), and mouse subcutaneous fibroblasts (L929 cells). MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells were employed as a positive control for osteogenic behavior. DESIGN: Our assessment involved multiple approaches, including vimentin staining for cell origin verification, as well as ALP and ARS staining in conjunction with RT-PCR for osteogenic characterization. RESULTS: Our findings revealed the superior osteogenic differentiation capacity of HGFs compared to MC3T3-E1 and NIH3T3 cells. Analysis of ALP staining confirmed that early osteogenic differentiation was most prominent in MC3T3-E1 cells at 7 days, followed by NIH3T3 and HGFs. However, ARS staining at 21 days demonstrated that HGFs produced the highest number of calcified nodules, indicating their robust potential for late-stage mineralization. This late-stage osteogenic potential of HGFs was further validated through RT-PCR analysis. In contrast, L929 cells displayed no significant osteogenic differentiation potential. CONCLUSIONS: In light of these findings, HGFs emerge as the preferred choice for seed cells in bone tissue engineering applications. This study provides valuable insights into the potential utility of HGFs in the fields of bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Identification of immunological bioprocesses involved in peri-implantitis using weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

BACKGROUND: Peri-implantitis is an irreversible infectious disease that occurs with high incidence. Exploring the immune responses of peri-implantitis is key to developing targeted treatment strategies. However, there is limited research on the immune response of peri-implantitis. METHODS: This study performed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis to identify the peri-implantitis related gene network and conducted a functional enrichment analysis of the gene network. Thereafter, the candidate hub genes were selected by constructing a protein-protein interaction network and drawing an upset plot. The hub genes were identified through their significant associations with disease condition and validated using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. Using the gene set variation analysis, the hub genes were further used to explore infiltrating immunocytes and immune factors in peri-implantitis. Finally, the immunocytes and immune factor related hub genes were intersected to obtain the therapeutic target, which was validated using histological staining. RESULTS: The peri-implantitis related gene network was enriched in innate and adaptive immune response. Subsequently, interleukin (IL)1B, IL10, ITGAM, ITGB1, STAT3, and TLR4 were identified as hub genes. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells, macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, natural killer T cells, and immature B cells were positively and significantly related to the hub genes IL1B, TLR4, ITGAM, and ITGB1 (correlation coefficient > 0.80). While immune factors CXCL10, IL6, and CXCL12 and hub genes IL10 and IL1B held the highest degree in the immune factors network. IL1B may be a promising therapeutic target. CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights into the hub genes, immunocytes, and immune factors underlying peri-implantitis immunological bioprocess.

Osteotomy combined with the trephine technique for invisible implant fracture: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Implant fracture is one of the most serious mechanical complications of dental implants. Conventional treatment necessitates visibility of the apical portion of the fractured implant, whereas for deep and invisible implant fractures, the traditional trephine method has been ineffective. Surgical removal of the marginal bone to expose the fracture surface would be a time-consuming and extensively damaging procedure. Here, we propose a novel technique to address invisible implant fractures. CASE SUMMARY: A 50-year-old woman was referred to our department with the chief complaint that her right mandibular implant tooth had fallen out 3 mo earlier. Cone-beam computed tomography examination showed an implant fracture with a fracture surface 5.1 mm below the crestal ridge. The patient was treated with osteotomy combined with the trephine technique to expose the surgical field and remove the implant. The invisible fractured implant was successfully removed, with minimal trauma. A modified Wafer technique-supported guided bone regeneration treatment was then administered to restore the buccal bone wall and preserve the bone mass. Six months later, fine regenerative bone and a wide alveolar crest in the edentulous area were observed, and a new implant was placed. Four months later, restoration was completed using a cemented ceramic prosthesis. Clinical and radiographic examinations 12 mo after loading fulfilled the success criteria. The patient reported no complaints and was satisfied. CONCLUSION: Osteotomy combined with the trephine technique can be effectively used to address deep and invisible implant fractures.

Dynamic navigation system-guided trans-inferior alveolar nerve implant placement in the atrophic posterior mandible: A case report.

BACKGROUND: In atrophic posterior mandibular areas, where the bone height superior to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) is less than 6 mm, short implants are not applicable. Conventional alternatives such as IAN transposition and various alveolar bone augmentation approaches are technically demanding and prone to complications. CASE SUMMARY: Computer-guided dynamic navigation implantation improves the accuracy, predictability, and safety of implant placement. This case report presents a dynamic navigation system-guided trans-IAN implant placement technique, which can successfully treat a posterior mandibular dentition defect when the bone height is only 4.5 mm. The implant was inserted into the buccal side of the IAN and was 1.7 mm away from the IAN. The implantation deviations were controlled within a satisfying range, and the long-term restoration outcome was stable. CONCLUSION: Dynamic navigation system-guided trans-IAN implant placement might be a recommended technique for patients with extremely insufficient residual bone height and sufficient bone width in the posterior mandibular area.

Development of an miRNA-Array-Based Diagnostic Signature for Periodontitis.

Periodontitis progression is accompanied by irreversible alveolar bone absorption and leads to tooth loss. Early diagnosis is important for tooth stability and periodontal tissue preservation. However, there is no recognized miRNA diagnostic signature with convincing sensitivity and specificity for periodontitis. In this study, we obtained miRNA array expression profiles of periodontitis from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After screening for differentially expressed miRNAs, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was performed to identify and construct a 17-miRNA-based diagnostic signature (hsa-miR-3917, hsa-mir-4271, hsa-miR-3156, hsa-miR-3141, hsa-miR-1246, hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-671-5p, hcmv-mir-UL70, hsa-miR-650, hsa-miR-497-3p, hsa-miR-145-3p, hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-210-3p, hsa-miR-204-3p, hsa-miR-203a-5p, hsa-miR-99a-3p, and hsa-miR-30a-3p). Periodontal tissue samples with higher risk scores were more likely to show symptoms of periodontitis. Then, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of the miRNA signature, which indicated that the optimum cutoff value in periodontitis diagnosis was 0.5056 with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.996, a sensitivity of 97.3%, a specificity of 100.0% in the training cohort; in the testing cohort, the corresponding values were as follows: an AUC of 0.998, a sensitivity of 97.9%, and a specificity of 91.7%. We next evaluated the efficacy of the signature in differentiating disease subtype and affected range. Furthermore, we conducted functional enrichment analysis of the 17 miRNA-targeted mRNAs, including the regulation of mTOR activity and cell autophagy, Th1/Th2 cell balance and immunoregulation, cell apoptosis, and so on. In summary, our study identified and validated a 17-miRNA diagnostic signature with convincing AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for periodontitis.

Controlled release of simvastatin-loaded thermo-sensitive PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogel for bone tissue regeneration: in vitro and in vivo characteristics.

Reports on the local delivery of drug loaded injectable hydrogels for bone regeneration are currently limited. This study assessed the effect of controlled simvastatin (SIM) release from a thermo-sensitive hydrogel in vitro and in vivo. We successfully manufactured and evaluated thermo-sensitive poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) triblock copolymers (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) loaded with SIM. The osteogenic effect of this hydrogel was tested in vitro and in vivo. MC-3T3 E1 cells proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation was analyzed after cultivation with the hydrogel extracts. Cells co-cultured with SIM/PLGA-PEG-PLGA extracts showed an increase in mineralization and osteogenic gene expression compared to the other two groups. Additionally, the characteristics of this composite in vivo were demonstrated using a rat bone defect model. The bone defects injected with SIM/PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogel showed increased new bone formation compared to samples treated with PLGA-PEG-PLGA and control samples. The results of this study suggest that SIM/PLGA-PEG-PLGA might provide potential therapeutic value for bone healing.