An In Vitro Study of Local Oxygen Therapy as Adjunctive Antimicrobial Therapeutic Option for Patients with Periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a common global disease caused by bacterial dysbiosis leading to tissue destruction, and it is strongly associated with anaerobic bacterial colonization. Therapeutic strategies such as oxygen therapy have been developed to positively influence the dysbiotic microbiota, and the use of oxygen-releasing substances may offer an added benefit of avoiding systemic effects commonly associated with antibiotics taken orally or hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Therefore, the oxygen release of calcium peroxide (CaO2) was measured using a dissolved oxygen meter, and CaO2 solutions were prepared by dissolving autoclaved CaO2 in sterile filtered and deionized water. The effects of CaO2 on planktonic bacterial growth and metabolic activity, as well as on biofilms of Streptococcus oralis and Porphyromonas gingivalis, were investigated through experiments conducted under anaerobic conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of CaO2 as an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of periodontitis. Results showed that CaO2 selectively inhibited the growth and viability of P. gingivalis (p < 0.001) but had little effect on S. oralis (p < 0.01), indicating that CaO2 has the potential to selectively affect both planktonic bacteria and mono-species biofilms of P. gingivalis. The results of this study suggest that CaO2 could be a promising antimicrobial agent with selective activity for the treatment of periodontitis.

Oxygen-Releasing Hyaluronic Acid-Based Dispersion with Controlled Oxygen Delivery for Enhanced Periodontal Tissue Engineering.

Periodontitis is a chronic biofilm-associated inflammatory disease of the tooth-supporting tissues that causes tooth loss. It is strongly associated with anaerobic bacterial colonization and represents a substantial global health burden. Due to a local hypoxic environment, tissue regeneration is impaired. Oxygen therapy has shown promising results as a potential treatment of periodontitis, but so far, local oxygen delivery remains a key technical challenge. An oxygen (O2)-releasing hyaluronic acid (HA)-based dispersion with a controlled oxygen delivery was developed. Cell viability of primary human fibroblasts, osteoblasts, and HUVECs was demonstrated, and biocompatibility was tested using a chorioallantoic membrane assay (CAM assay). Suppression of anaerobic growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis was shown using the broth microdilution assay. In vitro assays showed that the O2-releasing HA was not cytotoxic towards human primary fibroblasts, osteoblasts, and HUVECs. In vivo, angiogenesis was enhanced in a CAM assay, although not to a statistically significant degree. Growth of P. gingivalis was inhibited by CaO2 concentrations higher than 256 mg/L. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate the biocompatibility and selective antimicrobial activity against P. gingivalis for the developed O2-releasing HA-based dispersion and the potential of O2-releasing biomaterials for periodontal tissue regeneration.

Ethyl Hydroxyethyl Cellulose-A Biocompatible Polymer Carrier in Blood.

The biocompatibility of carrier nanomaterials in blood is largely hampered by their activating or inhibiting role on the clotting system, which in many cases prevents safe intravascular application. Here, we characterized an aqueous colloidal ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (EHEC) solution and tested its effect on ex vivo clot formation, platelet aggregation, and activation by thromboelastometry, aggregometry, and flow cytometry. We compared the impact of EHEC solution on platelet aggregation with biocompatible materials used in transfusion medicine (the plasma expanders gelatin polysuccinate and hydroxyethyl starch). We demonstrate that the EHEC solution, in contrast to commercial products exhibiting Newtonian flow behavior, resembles the shear-thinning behavior of human blood. Similar to established nanomaterials that are considered biocompatible when added to blood, the EHEC exposure of resting platelets in platelet-rich plasma does not enhance tissue thromboplastin- or ellagic acid-induced blood clotting, or platelet aggregation or activation, as measured by integrin αIIbß3 activation and P-selectin exposure. Furthermore, the addition of EHEC solution to adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-stimulated platelet-rich plasma does not affect the platelet aggregation induced by this agonist. Overall, our results suggest that EHEC may be suitable as a biocompatible carrier material in blood circulation and for applications in flow-dependent diagnostics.

Liquid/gas and liquid/liquid phase equilibria of the system water/bovine serum albumin.

The thermodynamic behavior of the system H2O/BSA was studied at 25 °C within the entire composition range: vapor pressure measurements via head space sampling gas chromatography demonstrate that the attainment of equilibria takes more than one week. A miscibility gap was detected via turbidity and the coexisting phases were analyzed. At 6 °C the two phase region extends from ca. 34 to 40 wt % BSA; it shrinks upon heating. The polymer rich phase is locally ordered, as can be seen under the optical microscope using crossed polarizers. The Flory-Huggins theory turns out to be inappropriate for the modeling of experimental results. A phenomenological expression is employed which uses three adjustable parameters and describes the vapor pressures quantitatively; it also forecasts the existence of a miscibility gap.

Pullulan and dextran: uncommon composition dependent Flory-Huggins interaction parameters of their aqueous solutions.

Vapor pressure measurements were performed for aqueous solutions of pullulan ( M w 280 kg/mol) and dextran ( M w 60 and 2100 kg/mol, respectively) at 25, 37.5, and 50 degrees C. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameters obtained from these measurements, plus information on dilute solutions taken from the literature, show that water is a better solvent for pullulan than for dextran. Furthermore, they evince uncommon composition dependencies, including the concurrent appearance of two extrema, a minimum at moderate polymer concentration and a maximum at high polymer concentration. To model these findings, a previously established approach, subdividing the mixing process into two clearly separable steps, was generalized to account for specific interactions between water and polysaccharide segments. Three adjustable parameters suffice to describe the results quantitatively; according to their numerical values, the reasons for the solubility of polysaccharides in water, as compared with that of synthetic polymers in organic solvents, differ in a principal manner. In the former case, the main driving force comes from the first step (contact formation between the components), whereas it is the second step (conformational relaxation) that is advantageous in the latter case.

Thermodynamic interaction parameters for the system water/NMMO hydrate.

Vapor pressures of water were measured for aqueous solutions of N-methyl-morpholine N-oxide (NMMO) at 80, 90 and 100 degrees C. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameters, chi, calculated from these data as a function of phi, the volume fraction of NMMO, are negative at all concentrations; at low phi, they decrease by more than a factor of 2 as T is raised, whereas they remain almost unchanged as phi approaches unity. Accordingly, the heat of mixing is pronouncedly endothermal at low NMMO concentrations but close to athermal at low water content. The composition dependence of chi can be equally well described by the Redlich-Kister equation and by an approach subdividing the mixing process into two separate steps. The opportunities of the latter modeling for a better molecular understanding of the mixing processes are discussed.

Cellulose/water: liquid/gas and liquid/liquid phase equilibria and their consistent modeling.

Liquid/liquid and liquid/gas equilibria were measured for the water/cellulose system at 80 degrees C using three different polymer samples. For these experiments we prepared cellulose films of approximately 20-25 microm in thickness and determined their equilibrium swelling in water. Thereafter the polymer concentration in the mixed phase was increased by means of a stepwise removal of the volatile component, and the equilibrium vapor pressures were measured using an automated combination of head space sampling and gas chromatography. Contrary to the usual behavior of polymers, the swelling of cellulose increases as its molar mass becomes larger. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameters calculated from the measured vapor pressures pass a pronounced minimum as a function of composition; for high cellulose contents they are negative, whereas they become positive for water-rich mixtures. All experimental findings are consistently interpreted by means of an approach accounting explicitly for the effects of chain connectivity and for the ability of macromolecules to respond to environmental changes by conformational rearrangement.

Rheology of sodium hyaluronate saline solutions for ophthalmic use.

The aim of this work was to investigate the rheological properties of different saline solutions of sodium hyaluronate (NaHA) with special interest for medical applications. The experimental results were compared with literature data for commercial ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs) used in cataract surgery. We offer some tools to tailor the rheological behavior of OVDs for different purposes. We have investigated to which extent surgical requirements can be fulfilled by adjusting either the molecular weight of NaHA or its concentration, parameters that are in some respects equivalent but not in others. Furthermore, we demonstrate that moduli and complex viscosities of NaHA saline solutions are adequately falling on master curves, using either empirical or calculated shift factors, the latest ones being based on a modified Rouse model.

Continuous spin fractionation and characterization by size-exclusion chromatography for styrene-butadiene block copolymers.

Linear and star-shaped styrene-butadiene block copolymers synthesized by anionic polymerization of butadiene and styrene were fractionated by applying a newly developed large-scale fractionation technique, named continuous spin fractionation (CSF). Their molecular weight and polydispersity index (d=M(w)/M(n)) were measured with size-exclusion chromatography and static light scattering. For the linear triblock copolymer a fractionation via temperature variation turned out to be better suited than the usual isothermal procedure. The star-shaped polymer with the d value of 1.33 was fractionated in two CSF steps to get the targeted sample, which has a considerably more uniform structure and a narrower molecular weight distribution (d=1.11). The corresponding starting linear diblock copolymer was fractionated in one step reducing d from 1.68 to 1.17. With one set of simple laboratory equipment, 1kg polymer can be fractionated per day. Utilizing CSF, for the first time, we fractionated successfully the block copolymers.

Interpolymer complex between hydroxypropyl cellulose and maleic acid-styrene copolymer: phase behavior of semi-dilute solutions.

The phase behavior of a water/hydroxypropyl cellulose/maleic acid-styrene copolymer (H2O/HPC/MAc-S) system was investigated in the semi-dilute range by turbidimetry, rheology, and optical microscopy. The two polymers under investigation form interpolymer complexes via hydrogen bonding. In the case of a total polymer concentration of cpol = 5 mg . mL(-1) a second phase segregates upon heating the homogeneous ternary system. By applying a constant shear rate (gamma = 50 s(-1)) the phase separation temperature of the system is 10-15 degrees C lower than for an unsheared one. For cpol = 10 mg . mL(-1) phase separation has already occurred at room temperature when the two binary polymer solutions are mixed. The distribution of the partners among the coexisting phases was examined by FT-IR spectroscopy. The stoichiometry of the interpolymeric complex (IPC) was estimated to be HPC/MAc-S = 40:60 (w/w) independent of cpol.