Nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology applications of magnetoelectric nanoparticles.

Unlike any other nanoparticles known to date, magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENPs) can generate relatively strong electric fields locally via the application of magnetic fields and, vice versa, have their magnetization change in response to an electric field from the microenvironment. Hence, MENPs can serve as a wireless two-way interface between man-made devices and physiological systems at the molecular level. With the recent development of room-temperature biocompatible MENPs, a number of novel potential medical applications have emerged. These applications include wireless brain stimulation and mapping/recording of neural activity in real-time, targeted delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), tissue regeneration, high-specificity cancer cures, molecular-level rapid diagnostics, and others. Several independent in vivo studies, using mice and nonhuman primates models, demonstrated the capability to deliver MENPs in the brain across the BBB via intravenous injection or, alternatively, bypassing the BBB via intranasal inhalation of the nanoparticles. Wireless deep brain stimulation with MENPs was demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo in different rodents models by several independent groups. High-specificity cancer treatment methods as well as tissue regeneration approaches with MENPs were proposed and demonstrated in in vitro models. A number of in vitro and in vivo studies were dedicated to understand the underlying mechanisms of MENPs-based high-specificity targeted drug delivery via application of d.c. and a.c. magnetic fields. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Neurological Disease Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies.

Severity and progression rate of periodontitis are associated with an increased risk of hypertension of patients attending a university clinic.

BACKGROUND: Although periodontitis is associated with increased risk of hypertension, studies based on new periodontal disease classification is limited. We investigated whether periodontitis severity and progression rate are linked with self-reports on doctor-diagnosed hypertension in a large cohort of patients attending the periodontology clinic at the faculty of dentistry. METHODS: Archived patient files, including radiographic image records and results from full-mouth clinical periodontal examination were screened for inclusion. Data on socioeconomic factors, smoking and oral hygiene habits, and medical history were collected with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Diagnosis and background data were available for 7008 patients. The median (IQR) age was 31.0 (21.0) years; 60.1% (n = 4211) were female. Hypertension was diagnosed in 6.2% (n = 435) of patients. Both periodontitis stage and grade differed (p < 0.001) between patients with or without hypertension. Increased periodontal disease severity was associated with a 20% increasing risk for hypertension; the odds ratio (OR) was 2.63 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.48-4.68, p < 0.001) in stage IV periodontitis. Increasing periodontitis progression rate was associated with a 35% increased risk for hypertension; the OR was 2.22 (95% CI 1.45-3.40, p < 0.001) in grade C periodontitis. CONCLUSION: Severity and progression rate of periodontitis may be independent risk factors for hypertension in this large cohort of patients attending the university periodontal department.

The impact of smoking on oral health and patient assessment of tobacco cessation support from Turkish dentists.

INTRODUCTION: Dentists are in a critical position to help patients quit smoking. This study analyses the effectiveness of Turkish dentists in smoking cessation as part of routine patient care. METHODS: An in-person cross-sectional survey on previous dental visit experiences was completed by 226 patients recruited from the Department of Periodontology, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey, from March 2019 to September 2019. The questionnaire included topics on patient's smoking/quit characteristics, experiences on smoking cessation from their dentists, and willingness for the implementation of smoking cessation advice by dentists. RESULTS: In all, 38% of the patients were current smokers, 8% were former smokers, and 68% tried to quit previously. Smokers demonstrated consistently higher scores for plaque index, gingival index, and probing depth, than former/non-smokers (p<0.05). Patients' knowledge of adverse effects was high, and the patients presented a positive attitude toward receiving cessation activities from dentists (86.7%). A total of 89% responded positively to be asked about their smoking behavior. However, the dentists' approach for cessation discussions did not go any further than listing the harmful effects. Only 32% of the patients were informed about side effects of smoking and one-third were encouraged to quit. In general, offering smoking cessation advice was relatively infrequent, and the majority of patients tried to quit smoking by themselves (76%) without using any nicotine replacement product (84%). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking leads to oral health problems. Dentists in Turkey may ask their patients' about their smoking habits but less frequently offer practical help to quit.

The effects of preoperative coronary collateral circulation on cardiac-related events after coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Abstract Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods: A total of 127 patients who had undergone CABG (2011-2013) were enrolled into this study and follow-up was obtained by phone contact. Patients were categorized into two groups according to preoperative CCC using the Rentrop method. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure (HF), and mortality rates were compared between groups. Clinical outcome was defined as combined end point including death, PCI, recurrent MI, stroke, and HF. Results: Sixty-two of 127 patients had poor CCC and 65 had good CCC. There were no differences in terms of PCI, recurrent MI, and HF between the groups. Stroke (seven of 62 [11.3%] and one of 65 [1.5%], P=0.026) and mortality (19 of 62 [30.6%] and 10 of 65 [15.4%], P=0.033) rates were significantly higher in poor CCC group than in good CCC group. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, survival time was not statistically different between the groups. Presence of poor CCC resulted in a significantly higher combined end point incidence (P=0.011). Conclusion: Stroke, mortality rates, and combined end point incidence were significantly higher in poor CCC patients than in the good CCC group.

The Effects of Preoperative Coronary Collateral Circulation on Cardiac-Related Events after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: A total of 127 patients who had undergone CABG (2011-2013) were enrolled into this study and follow-up was obtained by phone contact. Patients were categorized into two groups according to preoperative CCC using the Rentrop method. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure (HF), and mortality rates were compared between groups. Clinical outcome was defined as combined end point including death, PCI, recurrent MI, stroke, and HF. RESULTS: Sixty-two of 127 patients had poor CCC and 65 had good CCC. There were no differences in terms of PCI, recurrent MI, and HF between the groups. Stroke (seven of 62 [11.3%] and one of 65 [1.5%], P=0.026) and mortality (19 of 62 [30.6%] and 10 of 65 [15.4%], P=0.033) rates were significantly higher in poor CCC group than in good CCC group. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, survival time was not statistically different between the groups. Presence of poor CCC resulted in a significantly higher combined end point incidence (P=0.011). CONCLUSION: Stroke, mortality rates, and combined end point incidence were significantly higher in poor CCC patients than in the good CCC group.

Healing of two and three wall intrabony periodontal defects following treatment with an enamel matrix derivative combined with autogenous bone.

BACKGROUND: There are still limited data on the outcomes of regenerative periodontal surgery using a combination of an enamel matrix protein derivative (EMD) and autogenous bone (AB). AIM: To evaluate the healing of deep intrabony defects treated with either a combination EMD+AB or EMD alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with advanced chronic periodontitis, with one deep intrabony defect, were randomly treated with either EMD+AB (test) or EMD (control). Clinical assessments were performed at baseline and at 1 year after treatment. The primary outcome variable was relative attachment level (RAL). RESULTS: Healing was uneventful in all patients. The test sites showed a reduction in the mean probing pocket depth (PPD) of 5.6 +/- 0.9 mm (p<0.001), a gain in the mean RAL of 4.2 +/- 1.1 mm (p<0.001) and a gain in the mean probing bone level (PBL) of 3.9 +/- 1.0 mm (p<0.001). The control group displayed a mean PPD reduction of 4.6 +/- 0.4 mm (p<0.001), a mean RAL gain of 3.4 +/- 0.8 mm (p<0.001) and a mean PBL gain of 2.8 +/- 0.8 mm (p<0.001). RAL gains of > or =4 mm were measured in 90% of the test defects and in 55% of the controls. PBL gains of > or =4 mm were obtained in 85% of the test defects and in 25% of the control ones. The test treatment resulted in statistically higher PPD reductions, RAL gains and PBL gains compared with the control (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Within their limits, the present results indicate that: (i) at 1 year after surgery, both therapies resulted in statistically significant clinical improvements compared with baseline and (ii) although the combination of EMD+AB resulted in statistically significant higher soft and hard tissue improvements compared with treatment with EMD, the clinical relevance of this finding is unclear.

Regenerative treatment with platelet-rich plasma combined with a bovine-derived xenograft in smokers and non-smokers: 12-month clinical and radiographic results.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to assess the healing response of intrabony defects following regenerative treatment with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) combined with a bovine-derived xenograft (BDX) in smokers and non-smokers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 24 advanced chronic periodontitis patients, 12 smokers and 12 non-smokers, with 113 intrabony defects with an intrabony component of or /=3 mm were included in this study. Defects were surgically treated with PRP/BDX. At baseline and 12 months after surgery, the following parameters were recorded: plaque and sulcus bleeding indices, probing depth (PD), relative attachment level, marginal recession, probing and radiographic bone levels. RESULTS: Considering the soft tissue measurements, smokers and non-smokers presented a mean PD reduction of 3.97 +/- 0.76 and 4.63 +/- 0.52 mm, recession of 0.76 +/- 0.44 and 0.50 +/- 0.12 mm and attachment gain of 3.26 +/- 0.42 and 4.06 +/- 0.40 mm, respectively. Evaluation of the hard tissue findings revealed that the mean clinical and radiographic bone gains in smokers and non-smokers were 2.83 +/- 0.47 and 3.63 +/- 0.38 mm, 2.98 +/- 0.38 and 3.67 +/- 0.48 mm, respectively. Inter-group differences for PD reduction (p<0.05), attachment (p<0.001), clinical (p<0.001) and radiographic bone gains (p<0.001) were found to be significant between smokers and non-smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of this study, the results indicate that treatment outcome following PRP/BDX application in intrabony defects is impaired with smoking.

Platelet-rich plasma in combination with bovine derived xenograft in the treatment of deep intrabony periodontal defects: a report of 20 consecutively treated patients.

There is currently great interest concerning the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in combination with bone grafts for predictably obtaining periodontal regeneration. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of PRP and bovine derived xenograft (BDX) combination in the treatment of deep intrabony defects with an emphasis on the evaluation of early wound healing. A total of 85 intrabony defects with an intrabony component of > or =3 mm were selected in 20 advanced chronic periodontitis patients. Defects were surgically treated with PRP/BDX. At baseline and 12 months after surgery, the following parameters were recorded: plaque and sulcus bleeding indices, probing depth (PD), relative attachment level, marginal recession (REC), probing bone and radiographic bone levels. Postoperative healing was evaluated by an early healing index at 1 and 2 weeks after surgery. At 12 months, all clinical and radiographic parameters were improved (p < 0.0001). The mean changes at 12 months were: PD reduction of 4.78 +/- 1.20 mm, attachment gain of 4.24 +/- 1.03 mm, REC of 0.54 +/- 0.34 mm, clinical bone gain of 3.75 +/- 0.97 mm, and radiographic bone gain of 3.79 +/- 1.02 mm, respectively. Two weeks after surgery, primary closure was maintained in 95% of the defect sites. Treatment with a combination of PRP and BDX leads to a significantly favorable clinical and radiographic improvement in deep intrabony periodontal defects.