Research

11 pages, 40359 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pulp–Dentin Complex Regeneration with Cell Transplantation Technique Using Stem Cells Derived from Human Deciduous Teeth: Histological and Immunohistochemical Study in Immunosuppressed Rats

by Larissa Regina Kuntze dos Santos, André Antonio Pelegrine, Carlos Eduardo da Silveira Bueno, José Ricardo Muniz Ferreira, Antonio Carlos Aloise, Carolina Pessoa Stringheta, Elizabeth Ferreira Martinez and Rina Andréa Pelegrine

Bioengineering 2023, 10(5), 610; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering10050610 - 19 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1756

Abstract

The aim of this study was to histologically verify the performance of pulp-derived stem cells used in the pulp–dentin complex regeneration. Maxillary molars of 12 immunosuppressed rats were divided into two groups: the SC (stem cells) group, and the PBS (just standard phosphate-buffered [...] Read more.

The aim of this study was to histologically verify the performance of pulp-derived stem cells used in the pulp–dentin complex regeneration. Maxillary molars of 12 immunosuppressed rats were divided into two groups: the SC (stem cells) group, and the PBS (just standard phosphate-buffered saline) group. After pulpectomy and canal preparation, the teeth received the designated materials, and the cavities were sealed. After 12 weeks, the animals were euthanized, and the specimens underwent histological processing and qualitative evaluation of intracanal connective tissue, odontoblast-like cells, intracanal mineralized tissue, and periapical inflammatory infiltrate. Immunohistochemical evaluation was performed to detect dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1). In the PBS group, an amorphous substance and remnants of mineralized tissue were observed throughout the canal, and abundant inflammatory cells were observed in the periapical region. In the SC group, an amorphous substance and remnants of mineralized tissue were observed throughout the canal; odontoblasts-like cells immunopositive for DMP1 and mineral plug were observed in the apical region of the canal; and a mild inflammatory infiltrate, intense vascularization, and neoformation of organized connective tissue were observed in the periapical region. In conclusion, the transplantation of human pulp stem cells promoted partial pulp tissue neoformation in adult rat molars. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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17 pages, 8642 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strontium Ranelate Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis through NF-κB-Pathway-Dependent Autophagy

by Dongle Wu, Xuan Sun, Yiwei Zhao, Yuanbo Liu, Ziqi Gan, Zhen Zhang, Xin Chen and Yang Cao

Bioengineering 2023, 10(3), 365; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering10030365 - 16 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1742

Abstract

Strontium ranelate (SR) is a pharmaceutical agent used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and fragility fracture. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of SR on alveolar bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement and its underlying mechanism. Here, we [...] Read more.

Strontium ranelate (SR) is a pharmaceutical agent used for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and fragility fracture. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of SR on alveolar bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement and its underlying mechanism. Here, we investigated the influence of SR on orthodontic tooth movement and tooth resorption in Sprague–Dawley rats and the relationship between the nuclear factor–kappa B (NF-κB) pathway, autophagy, and osteoclastogenesis after the administration of SR in vitro and in vivo. In this study, it was found that SR reduced the expression of autophagy-related proteins at the pressure side of the first molars during orthodontic tooth movement. Similarly, the expression of these autophagy-related proteins and the size and number of autophagosomes were downregulated by SR in vitro. The results also showed that SR reduced the number of osteoclasts and suppressed orthodontic tooth movement and root resorption in rats, which could be partially restored using rapamycin, an autophagy inducer. Autophagy was attenuated after pre-osteoclasts were treated with Bay 11-7082, an NF-κB pathway inhibitor, while SR reduced the expression of the proteins central to the NF-κB pathway. Collectively, this study revealed that SR might suppress osteoclastogenesis through NF-κB-pathway-dependent autophagy, resulting in the inhibition of orthodontic tooth movement and root resorption in rats, which might offer a new insight into the treatment of malocclusion and bone metabolic diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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18 pages, 3213 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Computing Drug-Drug Similarity from Patient-Centric Data

by Yousef Asiri

Bioengineering 2023, 10(2), 182; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering10020182 - 01 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1218

Abstract

In modern biology and medicine, drug-drug similarity is a major task with various applications in pharmaceutical drug development. Various direct and indirect sources of evidence obtained from drug-centric data such as side effects, drug interactions, biological targets, and chemical structures are used in [...] Read more.

In modern biology and medicine, drug-drug similarity is a major task with various applications in pharmaceutical drug development. Various direct and indirect sources of evidence obtained from drug-centric data such as side effects, drug interactions, biological targets, and chemical structures are used in the current methods to measure the level of drug-drug similarity. This paper proposes a computational method to measure drug-drug similarity using a novel source of evidence that is obtained from patient-centric data. More specifically, patients’ narration of their thoughts, opinions, and experience with drugs in social media are explored as a potential source to compute drug-drug similarity. Online healthcare communities were used to extract a dataset of patients’ reviews on anti-epileptic drugs. The collected dataset is preprocessed through Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques and four text similarity methods are applied to measure the similarities among them. The obtained similarities are then used to generate drug-drug similarity-based ranking matrices which are analyzed through Pearson correlation, to answer questions related to the overall drug-drug similarity and the accuracy of the four similarity measures. To evaluate the obtained drug-drug similarities, they are compared with the corresponding ground-truth similarities obtained from DrugSimDB, a well-known drug-drug similarity tool that is based on drug-centric data. The results provide evidence on the feasibility of patient-centric data from social media as a novel source for computing drug-drug similarity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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10 pages, 4227 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arduino Automated Microwave Oven for Tissue Decalcification

by Paolo Savadori, Sophia Dalfino, Marco Piazzoni, Francesco Inchingolo, Massimo Del Fabbro, Gianluca Martino Tartaglia and Luciano Giardino

Bioengineering 2023, 10(1), 79; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering10010079 - 06 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1767

Abstract

Decalcification of hard tissues such as bone and teeth is a complex process that requires using chemicals such as acids and chelating agents. Acids act faster than chelating agents, but they have a greater risk of damaging biological samples. Increasing the reaction speed [...] Read more.

Decalcification of hard tissues such as bone and teeth is a complex process that requires using chemicals such as acids and chelating agents. Acids act faster than chelating agents, but they have a greater risk of damaging biological samples. Increasing the reaction speed of the chelating agent may solve this issue. There are several strategies to speed up this process, and using microwaves seems to be one of the most effective. However, lab-dedicated microwave ovens are expensive, and their purchase may seem unjustified. Therefore, a low-cost modification of a commercial microwave oven, consisting of an Arduino automation device, has been developed. The setup has proven reliable for continuous work, thanks to implementing an electronic safety circuit. In addition, it may reduce the decalcification time using a chelating agent, achieving optimal results regarding tissue preservation and quality of histological sections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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Graphical abstract

10 pages, 1811 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clinical Performance Evaluation of a Hyaluronic Acid Dental Gel for the Treatment of Traumatic Ulcers in Patients with Fixed Orthodontic Appliances: A Randomized Controlled Trial

by Marco Tremolati, Marco Farronato, Luca Ferrantino, Francesca Rusconi, Giovanni Lodi and Cinzia Maspero

Bioengineering 2022, 9(12), 761; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering9120761 - 03 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3581

Abstract

Background: A newly available gel containing hyaluronic acid (HA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone was tested for efficacy on traumatic oral ulcers (TOU) caused by fixed orthodontic appliances. Methods: A double-blind RCT was conducted to test the new gel versus a placebo. According to the sample [...] Read more.

Background: A newly available gel containing hyaluronic acid (HA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone was tested for efficacy on traumatic oral ulcers (TOU) caused by fixed orthodontic appliances. Methods: A double-blind RCT was conducted to test the new gel versus a placebo. According to the sample size calculation, a total of 60 patients were considered sufficient and randomly allocated to one of the two groups out of a pool of 100 total patients who initially agreed to participate in the study. A VAS scale test and lesion measurements at T0, T1, and T2 were performed on the patients. Results: A total of 70 patients developed TOU, with 8 drop-outs; the intergroup comparison showed a statistically significant greater dimension of the lesion in the control group at T2 when compared to the test group. The pain experienced by the patients belonging to the test group was significantly lower than the pain in the patients in the control group Conclusions: Under the limitations of the study, the new formula might provide faster healing with less pain experienced by the patient when compared to a placebo. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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11 pages, 1642 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Cone-Beam Computed Tomographic Assessment of the Mandibular Condylar Volume in Different Skeletal Patterns: A Retrospective Study in Adult Patients

by Chiara Ceratti, Cinzia Maspero, Dario Consonni, Alberto Caprioglio, Stephen Thaddeus Connelly, Francesco Inchingolo and Gianluca Martino Tartaglia

Bioengineering 2022, 9(3), 102; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering9030102 - 02 Mar 2022

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 3429

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the condylar volume in adult patients with different skeletal classes and vertical patterns using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). CBCT scans of 146 condyles from 73 patients (mean age 30 ± 12 years old; 49 female, [...] Read more.

The aim of this study was to assess the condylar volume in adult patients with different skeletal classes and vertical patterns using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). CBCT scans of 146 condyles from 73 patients (mean age 30 ± 12 years old; 49 female, 24 male) were selected from the archive of the Department of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery of Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda, Milan, Italy, and retrospectively analyzed. The following inclusion criteria were used: adult patients; CBCT performed with the same protocol (0.4 mm slice thickness, 16 × 22 cm field of view, 20 s scan time); no systemic diseases; and no previous orthodontic treatments. Three-dimensional cephalometric tracings were performed for each patient, the mandibular condyles were segmented and the relevant volumes calculated using Mimics Materialize 20.0^® software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium). Right and left variables were analyzed together using random-intercept linear regression models. No significant association between condylar volumes and skeletal class was found. On the other hand, in relation to vertical patterns, the mean values of the mandibular condyle volumes in hyperdivergent subjects (688 mm³) with a post-rotation growth pattern (625 mm³) were smaller than in hypodivergent patients (812 mm³) with a horizontal growth pattern (900 mm³). Patients with an increased divergence angle had smaller condylar volumes than subjects with normal or decreased mandibular plane divergence. This relationship may help the clinician when planning orthodontic treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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Review

Jump to: Research, Other

22 pages, 15739 KiB

Open AccessReview

Efficacy of Kinematic Parameters for Assessment of Temporomandibular Joint Function and Disfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Alessandra Scolaro, Shahnawaz Khijmatgar, Pooja Mali Rai, Francesca Falsarone, Francesca Alicchio, Arianna Mosca, Christian Greco, Massimo Del Fabbro and Gianluca Martino Tartaglia

Bioengineering 2022, 9(7), 269; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering9070269 - 22 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2731

Abstract

The aim of this review was to answer the following PICO question: “Do TMJ kinematic parameters (intervention and comparison) show efficacy for assessment of mandibular function (Outcome) both in asymptomatic and TMD subjects? (Population)”. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Central databases were [...] Read more.

The aim of this review was to answer the following PICO question: “Do TMJ kinematic parameters (intervention and comparison) show efficacy for assessment of mandibular function (Outcome) both in asymptomatic and TMD subjects? (Population)”. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Central databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were (1) performed on human, (2) English only, (3) on healthy, symptomatic or surgically altered TMJ, (4) measured dynamic kinematics of mandible or TMJ (5) with six degrees of freedom. To assess the Risk of Bias, the Joanna Briggs Institute tool for non-randomised clinical studies was employed. A pairwise meta-analysis was carried out using STATA v.17.0 (Stata). The heterogeneity was estimated using the Q value and the inconsistency index. Ninety-two articles were included in qualitative synthesis, nine studies in quantitative synthesis. The condylar inclination was significantly increased in female (effect size 0.03°, 95% CI: −0.06, 0.12, p = 0.00). Maximum mouth opening (MMO) was increased significantly in female population in comparison with males (effect size 0.65 millimetres (0.36, 1.66). Incisor displacement at MMO showed higher values for control groups compared with TMD subjects (overall effect size 0.16 millimetres (−0.37, 0.69). Evidence is still needed, considering the great variety of devices and parameters used for arthrokinematics. The present study suggests standardising outcomes, design, and population of the future studies in order to obtain more reliable and repeatable values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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Other

Jump to: Research, Review

19 pages, 714 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Impact of Smoking Habit on Peri-Implant Indicators following Different Therapies: A Systematic Review

by Davide Farronato, Lorenzo Azzi, Luca Giboli, Vittorio Maurino, Gianluca Martino Tartaglia and Marco Farronato

Bioengineering 2022, 9(10), 569; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bioengineering9100569 - 18 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1554

Abstract

Peri-implant disease and its treatment is becoming a major concern for clinicians as the number of implants placed each year is rising. Smoking is a common habit, and it is associated with an increased risk of developing peri-implant disease. The role of smoking [...] Read more.

Peri-implant disease and its treatment is becoming a major concern for clinicians as the number of implants placed each year is rising. Smoking is a common habit, and it is associated with an increased risk of developing peri-implant disease. The role of smoking in the response to peri-implant treatment has never been investigated. Searches were conducted in electronic databases to screen articles published until August 2021. The included studies had at least two groups of patients: peri-implant disease only or peri-implant disease and smoking status. Outcomes of interest included plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BoP), radiographic crestal bone loss (CBL), and analysis of peri-implant sulcular fluid. Seven hundred and forty-nine articles were found in the databases, only 71 articles potentially qualified. A total of seven studies with a minimum follow-up of six months were included. There is no homogeneity in the diagnosis, smoker definition and treatment proposed. All surgical and non-surgical treatment have statistically significantly different outcomes in smokers and nonsmokers. Recognizing this study’s limitations, we conclude that smoking might play a significant role on the outcome of peri-implant disease treatment. None of the proposed treatments appear to be significantly more effective. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Oral Health: The Impact of Technology and Digital Advances as a New Frontier)

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