Innovative Drug Delivery Systems for Regenerative Medicine.

In the past two decades, research on drug delivery systems has achieved significant advances [...

Fit and forget: The future of dental implant therapy via nanotechnology.

Unlike orthopedic implants, dental implants require the orchestration of both osseointegration at the bone-implant interface and soft-tissue integration at the transmucosal region in a complex oral micro-environment with ubiquitous pathogenic bacteria. This represents a very challenging environment for early acceptance and long-term survival of dental implants, especially in compromised patient conditions, including aged, smoking and diabetic patients. Enabling advanced local therapy from the surface of titanium-based dental implants via novel nano-engineering strategies is emerging.

Calcium Phosphate Cements Combined with Blood as a Promising Tool for the Treatment of Bone Marrow Lesions.

The solid phase of a commercial calcium phosphate (Graftys HBS) was combined with ovine or human blood stabilized either with sodium citrate or sodium heparin. The presence of blood delayed the setting reaction of the cement by ca. 7-15 h, depending on the nature of the blood and blood stabilizer.

Drug Delivery Systems in Regenerative Medicine: An Updated Review.

Modern drug discovery methods led to evolving new agents with significant therapeutic potential. However, their properties, such as solubility and administration-related challenges, may hinder their benefits. Moreover, advances in biotechnology resulted in the development of a new generation of molecules with a short half-life that necessitates frequent administration.

Enhanced Corrosion Resistance and Local Therapy from Nano-Engineered Titanium Dental Implants.

Titanium is the ideal material for fabricating dental implants with favorable biocompatibility and biomechanics. However, the chemical corrosions arising from interaction with the surrounding tissues and fluids in oral cavity can challenge the integrity of Ti implants and leach Ti ions/nanoparticles, thereby causing cytotoxicity. Various nanoscale surface modifications have been performed to augment the chemical and electrochemical stability of Ti-based dental implants, and this review discusses and details these advances.

Antibacterial nanophotosensitizers in photodynamic therapy: An update.

Bacterial infections constitute a major challenge of clinical medicine, particularly in specialties such as dermatology and dental medicine. Antiseptics and antibiotics are the main adjunctive therapies to anti-infective procedures in these specialties. However, antibacterial photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been introduced as a novel and promising alternative to conventional antibacterial approaches.

Photodynamic Therapy for Peri-Implant Diseases.

Peri-implant diseases are frequently presented in patients with dental implants. This category of inflammatory infections includes peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis that are primarily caused by the oral bacteria that colonize the implant and the supporting soft and hard tissues. Other factors also contribute to the pathogenesis of peri-implant diseases.

Double-edged sword: Therapeutic efficacy versus toxicity evaluations of doped titanium implants.

Titanium-based orthopaedic/dental implants modified with various metal-doping strategies can enhance local therapy and bioactivity. Intentional or unintentional (because of loading and wear) release of metal ions/nanoparticles (NPs) from metal-doped implants can be therapeutic or cause adverse local tissue reactions, compromising long-term survival. Strategies to incorporate metals into implants, such as superficial or deep loading inside nano-engineered surfaces, including nanotubes, and the physiochemical characteristics of the released species significantly influence both their therapeutic and cytotoxic potential.

Perception of pharmacy students toward opioid-related disorders and roles of community pharmacists: A French nationwide cross-sectional study.

: Community pharmacists are among the frontline health professionals who manage patients with an opioid-related disorder (ORD). Pharmacists frequently have a negative attitude toward these patients, which could have a negative impact on their management. However, education on ORD may improve the attitude of future healthcare professionals.

Unusual Oxidative Dealkylation Strategy toward Functionalized Phenalenones as Singlet Oxygen Photosensitizers and Photophysical Studies.

A series of functionalized 6-alkoxy phenalenones was prepared through an unprecedented oxidative dealkylation of readily available phenalene precursors. The starting phenalenes were efficiently synthesized an aminocatalyzed annulation/-alkylation strategy starting from simple substrates. The spectroscopic properties of some phenalenones were investigated in different solvents.

Fibrin as a Multipurpose Physiological Platform for Bone Tissue Engineering and Targeted Delivery of Bioactive Compounds.

Although bone graft is still considered as the gold standard method, bone tissue engineering offers promising alternatives designed to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and to guide bone regeneration process. In this attempt, due to their similarity to the ECM and their low toxicity/immunogenicity properties, growing attention is paid to natural polymers. In particular, considering the early critical role of fracture hematoma for bone healing, fibrin, which constitutes blood clot, is a candidate of choice.

The response of pre-osteoblasts and osteoclasts to gallium containing mesoporous bioactive glasses.

Unlabelled: Mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) in the system SiO-CaO-PO-GaO have been synthesized by the evaporation induced self-assembly method and subsequent impregnation with Ga cations. Two different compositions have been prepared and the local environment of Ga(III) has been characterized using Si, Ga and P NMR analysis, demonstrating that Ga(III) is efficiently incorporated as both, network former (GaO units) and network modifier (GaO units). In vitro bioactivity tests evidenced that Ga-containing MBGs retain their capability for nucleation and growth of an apatite-like layer in contact with a simulated body fluid with ion concentrations nearly equal to those of human blood plasma.

Delivery systems of local anesthetics in bone surgery: are they efficient and safe?

Management of postoperative pain following bone surgery includes administration of local anesthetics (LAs). Smart delivery systems, including triggered systems, have been designed to provide a continuous release of LA in situ. However, these systems can provide a high level of LA locally.

Pain Management After Bone Reconstruction Surgery Using an Analgesic Bone Cement: A Functional Noninvasive In Vivo Study Using Gait Analysis.

Unlabelled: Postoperative pain after bone reconstruction is a serious complication that could jeopardize the global success of a surgery. This pain must be controlled and minimized during the first 3 to 4 postoperative days to prevent it from becoming chronic. In this study, a critical-size bone defect was created at the femoral distal end of rats and filled by an injectable calcium phosphate cement (CPC) loaded or not with local anesthetics (bupivacaine or ropivacaine).

Understanding the Progression of Bone Metastases to Identify Novel Therapeutic Targets.

Bone is one of the most preferential target site for cancer metastases, particularly for prostate, breast, kidney, lung and thyroid primary tumours. Indeed, numerous chemical signals and growth factors produced by the bone microenvironment constitute factors promoting cancer cell invasion and aggression. After reviewing the different theories proposed to provide mechanism for metastatic progression, we report on the gene expression profile of bone-seeking cancer cells.

The multiple therapeutic applications of miRNAs for bone regenerative medicine.

With the aging of the general population, there is an increasing need for bone defect repair, prompting the development of reliable alternatives to autologous bone grafting, without the usually associated major drawbacks (i.e., limited volume and severe postoperative pain).

Biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics for bone reconstruction: A review of biological response.

Unlabelled: Autologous bone graft is considered as the gold standard in bone reconstructive surgery. However, the quantity of bone available is limited and the harvesting procedure requires a second surgical site resulting in severe complications. Due to these limits, scientists and clinicians have considered alternatives to autologous bone graft.

Gallium enhances reconstructive properties of a calcium phosphate bone biomaterial.

Calcium phosphate (CaP)-based biomaterials are commonly used in bone reconstructive surgery to replace the damaged tissue, and can also serve as vectors for local drug delivery. Due to its inhibitory action on osteoclasts, the semi-metallic element gallium (Ga) is used for the systemic treatment of disorders associated with accelerated bone resorption. As it was demonstrated that Ga could be incorporated in the structure of CaP biomaterials, we investigated the biological properties of Ga-loaded CaP biomaterials.

Molecular Mechanisms of Anti-metastatic Activity of Curcumin.

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Although cancer occurs as a localized disease, its morbidity and mortality rates remain high due to the ability of cancer cells to break-off from the primary tumor and spread to distant organs. Currently, chemotherapy is the main treatment for cancer; however, the increase in proportion of drug-resistant cancer cells and unpleasant side-effects of chemotherapy are still the major challenges in cancer therapy.

Gallium, a promising candidate to disrupt the vicious cycle driving osteolytic metastases.

Bone metastases of breast cancer typically lead to a severe osteolysis due to an excessive osteoclastic activity. On the other hand, the semi-metallic element gallium (Ga) displays an inhibitory action on osteoclasts, and therefore on bone resorption, as well as antitumour properties. Thus, we explored in vitro Ga effects on osteoclastogenesis in an aggressive bone metastatic environment based on the culture of pre-osteoclast RAW 264.

Therapeutic actions of curcumin in bone disorders.

Curcumin is the active component of turmeric extract derived from the Curcuma longa plant. In the last decade, curcumin has raised a considerable interest in medicine owing to its negligible toxicity and multiple therapeutic actions including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial activities. Among the various molecular targets of curcumin, some are involved in bone remodeling, which strongly suggests that curcumin can affect the skeletal system.

Effects of Carbon Black and the Presence of Static Mechanical Strain on the Swelling of Elastomers in Solvent.

The effect of carbon black on the mechanical properties of elastomers is of great interest, because the filler is one of principal ingredients for the manufacturing of rubber products. While fillers can be used to enhance the properties of elastomers, including stress-free swelling resistance in solvent, it is widely known that the introduction of fillers yields significant inelastic responses of elastomers under cyclic mechanical loading, such as stress-softening, hysteresis and permanent set. When a filled elastomer is under mechanical deformation, the filler acts as a strain amplifier in the rubber matrix.

Vertebroplasty using bisphosphonate-loaded calcium phosphate cement in a standardized vertebral body bone defect in an osteoporotic sheep model.

In the context of bone regeneration in an osteoporotic environment, the present study describes the development of an approach based on the use of calcium phosphate (CaP) bone substitutes that can promote new bone formation and locally deliver in situ bisphosphonate (BP) directly at the implantation site. The formulation of a CaP material has been optimized by designing an injectable apatitic cement that (i) hardens in situ despite the presence of BP and (ii) provides immediate mechanical properties adapted to clinical applications in an osteoporotic environment. We developed a large animal model for simulating lumbar vertebroplasty through a two-level lateral corpectomy on L3 and L4 vertebrae presenting a standardized osteopenic bone defect that was filled with cements.

Therapeutic strategies for treating osteolytic bone metastases.

The recent progress in oncologic management of patients with localized cancer or metastatic disease has permitted a significant improvement in life expectancy. Nevertheless, bone metastases and their consequent skeletal-related events (SREs) are still associated with unfavorable prognosis and greatly affect quality of life. Global management of these bone metastases includes traditional local approaches (surgery, radiotherapy, etc.