Reducing the Foreign Body Reaction by Surface Modification with Collagen/Hyaluronic Acid Multilayered Films

Biological response against foreign implants often leads to encapsulation, possibly resulting in malfunction of implants devices. The aim of this study was to reduce the foreign body reaction by surface modification of biomaterials through layer-by-layer deposition of type I collagen (COL)/hyaluronic acid (HA) multilayer films. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples were coated with alternative COL and HA layers with different layers. We found that the in vitro adhesion, proliferation, and activation of macrophage-like cells were greatly decreased by COL/HA multilayered deposition. The PDMS samples modified with 20 bilayers of COL/HA were implanted in rats for 3 weeks, and the thickness of encapsulation surrounding the samples was decreased by 29–57% compared to the control unmodified PDMS. This study demonstrates the potential of COL/HA multilayer films to reduce foreign body reaction.

Treatment of a Spinal Cord Hemitransection Injury with Keratin Biomaterial Hydrogel Elicits Recovery and Tissue Repair

Medical care costs can reach an estimated value of $4 billion for spinal cord injuries (SCI) each year in the USA alone. With no viable treatment options available, care remains palliative and aims to minimize lifelong disabilities and complications, such as immobility, bladder and bowel dysfunction, breathing problems, and blood clots. Human hair keratin biomaterials have demonstrated efficacy in peripheral nerve injury models and were shown to improve conduction delay and increase axon number and density. In this study, a keratin hydrogel was tested in a central nervous system (CNS) application of spinal cord hemisection injury. Keratin-treated rats showed increased survival rates as well as a better functional recovery of gait properties and bladder function. Histological results demonstrated reduced glial scar formation with keratin treatment and suggested a greater degree of beneficial remodeling and cellular influx. The data provided in this pilot study suggest the possibility of using a keratin-based treatment for SCI and warrant further investigation.

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on the Crystallization and Growth of In Situ Prepared Nanohydroxyapatite in Chitosan Matrix

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHA) have been used in different biomedical applications where certain particle size distribution and morphology are required. Chitosan/hydroxyapatite (CS/HA) nanocomposites were prepared using in situ coprecipitation technique and the effect of the reaction temperature on the crystallization and particle growth of the prepared nanohydroxyapatite particles was investigated. The composites were prepared at different synthesis temperatures (−10, 37, and 60°C). XRD, FTIR, thermal analysis, TEM and SEM techniques were used to characterize the prepared specimens. It was found that the increase in processing temperature had a great affect on particle size and crystal structure of nHA. The low temperature (−10°C) showed inhabitation of the HA growth in c-direction and low crystallinity which was confirmed using XRD and electron diffraction pattern of TEM. Molar ratio of the bone-like apatite layer (Ca/P) for the nanocomposite prepared at 60°C was higher was higher than the composites prepared at lower temperatures (37 and −10°C).

Evaluation of Three-Dimensional Porous Iron-Cross-Linked Alginate as a Scaffold for Cell Culture

We investigated the efficacy of three-dimensional porous ferric-ion-cross-linked alginate (Fe-alginate) gels as cell scaffolds, in comparison with calcium-ion-cross-linked alginate (Ca-alginate) gels. In a previous study, we had demonstrated that two-dimensional Fe-alginate film was an efficient material for use as a scaffold, allowing good cell adhesion and proliferation, unlike Ca-alginate film. In the present study, we fabricated three-dimensional porous Fe- and Ca-alginate gels by freeze-drying and evaluated their effects on cultured cells. The Fe-alginate gels showed higher protein adsorption ability than Ca-alginate gels. Cells formed multicellular spheroids in both types of alginate scaffold, but the number of cultured cells increased with culture time on Fe-alginate porous gels, whereas those on Ca-alginate gels did not. Moreover, it was revealed that the cells on Fe-alginate scaffolds were still viable inside the multicellular spheroids even after cultivation for 14 days. These results suggest that Fe-alginate provides a superior porous scaffold suitable for three-dimensional culture of cells. Our findings may be useful for extending the application of Fe-alginate to diverse biomedical fields.

Strontium Incorporated Coralline Hydroxyapatite for Engineering Bone

Goniopora was hydrothermally converted to coralline hydroxyapatite (CHA) and incorporated with Sr (Sr-CHA). The pore size of Goniopora was in the range of 40–300 μm with a porosity of about 68%. Surface morphologies of the coral were modified to flake-like hydroxyapatite structures on CHA and the addition of Sr detected on Sr-CHA as confirmed by SEM and EDX. As the first report of incorporating Sr into coral, about 6%–14% Sr was detected on Sr-CHA. The compressive strengths of CHA and Sr-CHA were not compromised due to the hydrothermal treatments. Sr-CHA was studied in vitro using MC3T3-E1 cells and in vivo with an ovariectomized rat model. The proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells was significantly promoted by Sr-CHA as compared to CHA. Moreover, higher scaffold volume retention (+40%) was reported on the micro-CT analysis of the Sr-CHA scaffold. The results suggest that the incorporation of Sr in CHA can further enhance the osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity of corals. Strontium has been suggested to stimulate bone growth and inhibit bone resorption. In this study, we have successfully incorporated Sr into CHA with the natural porous structure remained and explored the idea of Sr-CHA as a potential scaffolding material for bone regeneration.

Micro-Pop-In Issues in Nanoscale Contact Deformation Resistance of Tooth Enamel

Human tooth enamel is a natural nanocomposite with a hierarchical structural architecture that spans from macroscale to nanoscale. Thus it offers the unique opportunity to study the physics of deformation at the nanoscale in a controlled manner using the novel nanoindentation technique. In spite of the wealth of literature, however, the information about the effect of loading rate on the nanoindentation behavior of human tooth enamel is far from being significant. Therefore, the major objective of the present work was to study the loading rate effect on nanoindentation behavior of enamel with a view to improve our understanding that could be used for development of better bioinspired synthetic structures for functional as well as biomedical utilities. The nanoindentation experiments were conducted at loading rates in the range of 103 to ~0.3×106 μN·s−1 at peak load of 105 μN at room temperature with a Berkovich tip on the longitudinal section from a freshly extracted premolar tooth enamel surface from a 65-year-old Indian male. To the best of our knowledge here we report for the first time the experimental observation of the increase in intrinsic resistance against contact-induced deformation at the nanoscale with the loading rate applied to the enamel surface. The results were explained by considering the microstructural details and the shear stress underneath the nanoindenter.

Effects of Heat Treatment on the Mechanical and Degradation Properties of 3D-Printed Calcium-Sulphate-Based Scaffolds

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) has been employed to fabricate scaffolds with advantages of fully controlled geometries and reproducibility. In this study, the scaffold structure design was established through investigating the minimum feature size and powder size distribution. It was then fabricated from the 3DP plaster-based powders (CaSO4·1/2H2O). Scaffolds produced from this material demonstrated low mechanical properties and a rapid degradation rate. This study investigated the effects of heat treatment on the mechanical and in vitro degradation properties of the CaSO4 scaffolds. The occurrence of dehydration during the heating cycle offered moderate improvements in the mechanical and degradation properties. By using a heat treatment protocol of 200°C for 30 min, compressive strength increased from 0.36 ± 0.13 MPa (pre-heat-treated) to 2.49 ± 0.42 MPa (heat-treated). Heat-treated scaffolds retained their structure and compressive properties for up to two days in a tris-buffered solution, while untreated scaffolds completely disintegrated within a few minutes. Despite the moderate improvements observed in this study, the heat-treated CaSO4 scaffolds did not demonstrate mechanical and degradation properties commensurate with the requirements for bone-tissue-engineering applications.

Tooth-Implant Connection: A Review

Connecting teeth to osseointegrated implants presents a biomechanical challenge. This is due to the implant being rigidly fixed to the bone and the tooth being attached to the bone with a periodontal ligament. In order to overcome this problem, various connection types such as rigid and nonrigid have been proposed. However, the mechanism of attachment and the perceived problem of the differential support provided by the implant and the tooth have been discussed by many authors, and the ideal connection type is still controversial. The aim of this study was to carry out a review of all available literature addressing the tooth-implant connection and evidence-based understanding of the management of tooth-implant-retained restorations.

A Review of Surface Treatment Methods to Improve the Adhesive Cementation of Zirconia-Based Ceramics

In spite of high mechanical strength, zirconia-based ceramics (ZrO2) has poor bond strength after conventional bond cementation procedures, requiring different surface treatment methods (STMs). This review gathered information about the STM for adhesive cementation (AC) to ZrO2 in the PubMed database, considering in vitro studies pertaining to AC for acid-resistant ceramics (ZrO2) limited to peer-reviewed papers published in English between 1965 and 2013 in dental journals. Different STMs have been proposed for ZrO2: air-abrasion (laboratory or chairside) with silica- (Si-) coated aluminum particles, the use of materials containing phosphate monomers, primer or silane application, laser irradiation, Si vapor phase deposition, and selective infiltration etching. In conclusion, STMs improve bond strength of resin luting cement to ZrO2 mainly when tested in short time. STMs must be correlated to the type of ZrO2 and the resin cement.