Antibacterial and Cytocompatible: Combining Silver Nitrate with Strontium Acetate Increases the Therapeutic Window.

Microbial infection and insufficient tissue formation are considered to be the two main causes of dental implant failure. Novel studies have focused on designing dual-functional strategies to promote antibacterial properties and improve tissue cell response simultaneously. In this study, we investigated the antibacterial properties and cytocompatibility of silver nitrate (AgNO) and strontium acetate (SrAc) in a mono-culture setup for dental application.

Antibacterial properties and abrasion-stability: Development of a novel silver-compound material for orthodontic bracket application.

Purpose: Bacteria-induced white spot lesions are a common side effect of modern orthodontic treatment. Therefore, there is a need for novel orthodontic bracket materials with antibacterial properties that also resist long-term abrasion. The aim of this study was to investigate the abrasion-stable antibacterial properties of a newly developed, thoroughly silver-infiltrated material for orthodontic bracket application in an in situ experiment.

Individualized, Additively Manufactured Drug-Releasing External Ear Canal Implant for Prevention of Postoperative Restenosis: Development, In Vitro Testing, and Proof of Concept in an Individual Curative Trial.

Postoperative restenosis in patients with external ear canal (EEC) atresia or stenosis is a common complication following canaloplasty. Our aim in this study was to explore the feasibility of using a three dimensionally (3D)-printed, patient-individualized, drug ((dexamethasone (DEX)), and ciprofloxacin (cipro))-releasing external ear canal implant (EECI) as a postoperative stent after canaloplasty. We designed and pre-clinically tested this novel implant for drug release (by high-performance liquid chromatography), biocompatibility (by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay), bio-efficacy (by the TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha)-reduction test (DEX) and inhibition zone test (for cipro)), and microbial contamination (formation of turbidity or sediments in culture medium).

Influence of the Available Surface Area and Cell Elasticity on Bacterial Adhesion Forces on Highly Ordered Silicon Nanopillars.

Initial bacterial adhesion to solid surfaces is influenced by a multitude of different factors, e.g., roughness and stiffness, topography on the micro- and nanolevel, as well as chemical composition and wettability.

Evaluation of biofilm colonization on multi-part dental implants in a rat model.

Background: Peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis are highly prevalent biofilm-associated diseases affecting the tissues surrounding dental implants. As antibiotic treatment is ineffective to fully cure biofilm mediated infections, antimicrobial modifications of implants to reduce or prevent bacterial colonization are called for. Preclinical in vivo evaluation of the functionality of new or modified implant materials concerning bacterial colonization and peri-implant health is needed to allow progress in this research field.

Plant-based oral care product exhibits antibacterial effects on different stages of oral multispecies biofilm development in vitro.

Background: Excessive biofilm formation on surfaces in the oral cavity is amongst the main reasons for severe infection development like periodontitis and peri-implantitis. Mechanical biofilm removal as well as the use of adjuvant antiseptics supports the prevention of pathogenic biofilm formation. Recently, the antibacterial effect of the oral care product REPHA-OS, based on medicinal plant extracts and essential oils, has been demonstrated on oral pathogens grown on agar plates.

In Vitro Antibacterial Effectiveness of a Naturopathic Oral Care Product on Oral Pathogens.

Purpose: Currently, the prevention of periodontal diseases focuses on mechanical removal of pathogenic biofilms combined with oral antiseptics as supportive chemical antibacterial control. Due to the risk of resistance development and side effects of existing antiseptics, the interest in alternative medicine with naturopathic treatment modalities is growing in dentistry. In the present study, the antibacterial effect of the naturopathic oral care product Repha OS and some of its derivatives, based on medicinal plant extracts and essential oils, with a specific focus on added sweeteners, was investigated on periodontal pathogenic and halitosis-associated bacteria.

Liquid-Infused Structured Titanium Surfaces: Antiadhesive Mechanism to Repel Streptococcus oralis Biofilms.

To combat implant-associated infections, there is a need for novel materials which effectively inhibit bacterial biofilm formation. In the present study, the antiadhesive properties of titanium surface functionalization based on the "slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces" (SLIPS) principle were demonstrated and the underlying mechanism was analyzed. The immobilized liquid layer was stable over 13 days of continuous flow in an oral flow chamber system.

Comparison of intraoral biofilm reduction on silver-coated and silver ion-implanted stainless steel bracket material : Biofilm reduction on silver ion-implanted bracket material.

Purpose: The objective of this in situ study was to quantify the intraoral biofilm reduction on bracket material as a result of different surface modifications using silver ions. In addition to galvanic silver coating and physical vapor deposition (PVD), the plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIIID) procedure was investigated for the first time within an orthodontic application.

Materials And Methods: An occlusal splint equipped with differently silver-modified test specimens based on stainless steel bracket material was prepared for a total of 12 periodontally healthy patients and was worn in the mouth for 48 h.

Development and characterization of an oral multispecies biofilm implant flow chamber model.

Peri-implant infections are the most common cause of implant failure in modern dental implantology. These are caused by the formation of biofilms on the implant surface and consist of oral commensal and pathogenic bacteria, which harm adjacent soft and hard tissues and may ultimately lead to implant loss. In order to improve the clinical situation, there has to be a better understanding of biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces.

Development of Laser-Structured Liquid-Infused Titanium with Strong Biofilm-Repellent Properties.

Medical implants are commonly used in modern medicine but still harbor the risk of microbial infections caused by bacterial biofilms. As their retrospective treatment is difficult, there is a need for biomedical materials that inhibit bacterial colonization from the start without using antibacterial agents, as these can promote resistance development. The promising concept of slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) possesses enormous potential for this purpose.

Quantifying implant-associated biofilms: Comparison of microscopic, microbiologic and biochemical methods.

Biofilm-associated infections pose severe problems in modern implant medicine. Screening for new implant materials with antibacterial properties requires reliable quantification of colonizing bacteria. There are many different methods to quantify biofilms on solid surfaces in vitro, employing different (bio-)chemical/microbiological reference parameters.

Robust Generation of Cardiomyocytes from Human iPS Cells Requires Precise Modulation of BMP and WNT Signaling.

Various strategies have been published enabling cardiomyocyte differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. However the complex nature of signaling pathways involved as well as line-to-line variability compromises the application of a particular protocol to robustly obtain cardiomyocytes from multiple iPS lines. Hence it is necessary to identify optimized protocols with alternative combinations of specific growth factors and small molecules to enhance the robustness of cardiac differentiation.

Effect of fungal colonization of wheat grains with Fusarium spp. on food choice, weight gain and mortality of meal beetle larvae (Tenebrio molitor).

Species of Fusarium have significant agro-economical and human health-related impact by infecting diverse crop plants and synthesizing diverse mycotoxins. Here, we investigated interactions of grain-feeding Tenebrio molitor larvae with four grain-colonizing Fusarium species on wheat kernels. Since numerous metabolites produced by Fusarium spp.

Identification of ABC transporter genes of Fusarium graminearum with roles in azole tolerance and/or virulence.

Fusarium graminearum is a plant pathogen infecting several important cereals, resulting in substantial yield losses and mycotoxin contamination of the grain. Triazole fungicides are used to control diseases caused by this fungus on a worldwide scale. Our previous microarray study indicated that 15 ABC transporter genes were transcriptionally upregulated in response to tebuconazole treatment.

Fungal metabolic plasticity and sexual development mediate induced resistance to arthropod fungivory.

Prey organisms do not tolerate predator attack passively but react with a multitude of inducible defensive strategies. Although inducible defence strategies are well known in plants attacked by herbivorous insects, induced resistance of fungi against fungivorous animals is largely unknown. Resistance to fungivory is thought to be mediated by chemical properties of fungal tissue, i.

Mechanisms regulating grain contamination with trichothecenes translocated from the stem base of wheat (Triticum aestivum) infected with Fusarium culmorum.

Factors limiting trichothecene contamination of mature wheat grains after Fusarium infection are of major interest in crop production. In addition to ear infection, systemic translocation of deoxynivalenol (DON) may contribute to mycotoxin levels in grains after stem base infection with toxigenic Fusarium spp. However, the exact and potential mechanisms regulating DON translocation into wheat grains from the plant base are still unknown.

Study of fungal colonization of wheat kernels in syria with a focus on fusarium species.

Wheat is one of the main crops in Mediterranean countries, and its cultivation has an important role in the Syrian economy. In Syria, Fusarium head blight (FHB) has not been reported so far. Mycological analysis of 48 samples of wheat kernels collected from cultivation areas with different climatic conditions were performed in 2009 and 2010.

Determination of the LOQ in real-time PCR by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis: application to qPCR assays for Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum.

Real-time PCR (qPCR) is the principal technique for the quantification of pathogen biomass in host tissue, yet no generic methods exist for the determination of the limit of quantification (LOQ) and the limit of detection (LOD) in qPCR. We suggest using the Youden index in the context of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for this purpose. The LOQ was defined as the amount of target DNA that maximizes the sum of sensitivity and specificity.