Susceptibility of periodontal pathogens to a novel target-specific drug delivery system containing self-nanoemulsifying curcumin: An in vitro study.

Background: Long-term use of many classic chemotherapeutic agents as adjuncts in the management of periodontitis has adverse complications, leading to seeking out naturopathic remedies. Although curcumin has been investigated in managing periodontitis, its therapeutic benefits have not been fully explored due to its limited solubility in an aqueous medium. This study aimed to develop a novel target-specific drug delivery system containing 1% self-nanoemulsifying curcumin (SNEC) in a hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) matrix and evaluate the susceptibility of periodontal pathogens to this system in vitro. Methods: Its antibacterial activity against Tannerella forsythia, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans was evaluated and compared to pure nano-curcumin and SNEC alone by estimating their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). Results: The antibacterial activity of pure nano-curcumin, SNEC, and SNEC in HPMC against the four periodontal pathogens evaluated in terms of MIC was recorded in the range of 0.2‒0.4, 0.4‒0.8, and 0.2‒0.8 µg/mL, respectively. However, the MIC of all three curcumin formulations against the periodontal pathogens tested was higher than that of the standard moxifloxacin. While both pure nano-curcumin and SNEC showed increasing values of inhibition zones with increasing concentrations on disk diffusion assay, lower concentrations of SNEC in HPMC did not show a zone of inhibition against the tested pathogens. Conclusion: The novel delivery system containing SNEC in HPMC may be a potential adjunct in managing periodontitis due to its probable sustained antimicrobial activity against the tested periodontal pathogens.

Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance: Highlights on Current Advance Methods for Detection of Drug Resistance and Current Pipeline Antitubercular Agents.

BACKGROUND: Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered antibiotics in 1928. Antibiotics have played a significant role in treating infectious diseases. The extensive use of antibiotics has enabled the microorganisms to develop resistance against the antibiotics given, which has become a global concern. This review aims to examine some of the mechanisms behind resistance and advanced methods for detecting drug-resistant and antibacterial drugs in the clinical pipeline. METHODS: An extensive search was carried out in different databases, viz. Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, and PubMed. The keywords used in the search were antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial tolerance, antibiotic tolerance, and methods to reduce antimicrobial resistance. All the studies published in the English language and studies focusing on antibiotic resistance were included in the analysis. RESULTS: The most common mechanisms involved in antimicrobial resistance are reflux pumping, antibiotic inactivation, acquired resistance, intrinsic resistance, mutation, bio-film resistance, etc. Antibacterial medicinal products for multidrug resistance (MDR) infections are active against pathogens, which are registered in the World Health Organization (WHO) priority pathogen list (PPL). CONCLUSION: Furthermore, their innovativeness was assessed by their lack of cross-resistance. Finally, novel antibacterial drugs without pre-existing inter-resistance, especially those with highresistance gram-negative bacteria and tuberculosis (TB), are understated and urgently required.

Shear Bond Strength of Ceramic Bonded to Different Core Materials and Their Pattern of Failure: An In Vitro Study.

Introduction In metal-ceramic restoration, most of the bond failures between the ceramic layer and the metal coping is the chipping of the ceramic layer, thus exposing the metal surface, which compromises the aesthetics. Hence, this leads to the introduction of zirconia-based restorations in dentistry. However, even zirconium coping has the common complication of delamination or porcelain chipping from the zirconium core. Hence, the shear bond strength between the commonly used core materials and ceramic requires investigation to facilitate the materials in clinical use for longevity. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the shear bond strength between different core materials and ceramic layering to find out the best core material for ceramic bonding. Materials and methods A total number of 45 samples were made as per ISO standardization (base 5 mm diameter and 1 mm thickness, step with 4 mm diameter and 4 mm in length). These samples were divided into three groups, Group A: Nickel-chromium, Group B: Cobalt-chromium, and Group C: Zirconium. Ceramic layering was layered on the top surface of each sample until an ideal height of 4 mm was obtained, and it was subjected to shear bond strength using a universal testing machine with a 50-KN load cell. This was followed by analyzing the nature of the fracture pattern using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results  There were no significant differences found for the shear bond strength among group A and group B. The zirconium (group C), however, had significantly lower values than both group A and group B. The microscopic examination also revealed that the failure between the coping and the ceramic layer primarily occurred near the interface with the residual veneering porcelain remaining on the core. Conclusions It was found that the shear bond strength of the metal-ceramic group is better than the zirconium ceramic group, however, the fracture between the copings and the ceramic layering is found to be similar for both adhesive and cohesive failure.

Buffalo colostrum ß-lactoglobulin inhibits VEGF-induced angiogenesis by interacting with G protein-coupled receptor kinase.

ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg), a major whey protein was purified and characterised from buffalo colostrum. The in silico analysis of the tryptic peptides based on LC-CID-MS/MS facilitated the identification of protein as ß-lg. The sequences IIVTQ f[1-5] and LSFNPTQLEEQCHV f(149-162) of m/z 933(+) and 851(2+) were found to match N- and C-extreme of ß-lg while IDALNENK f(84-91) and TPEVDDEALEKFDK f(125-138) sequences deduced for m/z 916(+) and 818(2+) were in compliance to buffalo milk ß-lg. Considering the sequence similarity of ß-lg to glycodelin, a proven angiogenic protein, similar role for ß-lg from buffalo colostrum (BLG-col) was examined. Interestingly, BLG-col exhibited anti-angiogenic activity by potently inhibiting cell proliferation, micro-vessel sprouting, cell migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in a dose-dependent manner but having varied effect on Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, MCF-7, MDA-MB 435 and MDA-MB 231 cell lines. The anti-angiogenic potential of BLG-col was found to be vascular endothelial growth factor mediated. The immunolocalisation of BLG-col on the cell surface of HUVECs evidenced using FITC-labelled ß-lg antibody indicated its extra-cellular binding. Furthermore, BLG-col interacting HUVEC membrane protein (64 kDa) was detected by immunoblot and its identity was established by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis, which showed peptide sequence homology to G protein-coupled receptor kinase 4.