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Introduction: A local microneedle patch loaded with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was constructed to improve the efficiency of ALA photodynamic treatment of oral leukoplakia, reduce local photosensitivity reactions, and promote the healing of lesions., Methods: The microneedle patch loaded with ALA was constructed with the hyaluronic acid (HA) solution (ALA-HAMN), and its morphology, strength, mucosal penetration, and biocompatibility were tested., Results: In vivo safety and permeability tests confirmed that ALA-HAMN had good biocompatibility and could penetrate the mucosal barrier and quickly dissolve and release ALA for in situ transdermal administration. The 4-nitroquinoline oxide (NQO) rat model experiment showed that ALA-HAMN can significantly improve photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency and has no damage to mucosal tissue compared with the commonly used ALA cotton ball dressing., Conclusions: The ALA-loaded microneedle patch was successfully constructed for the photodynamic treatment of oral leukoplakia, and the photodynamic efficiency and comfort of oral leukoplakia were improved, which provided an effective delivery mode to improve clinical ALA-PDT treatment of oral leukoplakia (OLK)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In orthodontic treatment, cariogenic bacteria in the oral cavity are the main cause of enamel white spot lesions (WSLs). Therefore, to effectively prevent and treat WSLs, it is crucial to inhibit the cariogenic bacterial activity while promoting the remineralization of demineralized tooth enamel. However, fluoride preparations commonly used for the prevention and treatment of WSLs can induce dental fluorosis if ingested in excess, and their remineralization effect is limited by the residual hydroxyapatite (HAp) content and salivary Ca 2+ and PO 4 3- levels. In this study, we propose a strategy (CMCS/ACP@PDA) for antibacterial and remineralization of WSLs by a nanohybrid of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)-stabilized amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) loaded polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) based on biomimetic remineralization techniques and biocompatible near-infrared (NIR) photoactivation therapy. The nanohybrid utilizes the excellent photothermal conversion ability of polydopamine for antimicrobial purposes, while CMCS with its own positive and negative charges (-NH 3 + and -COO - ) acts as a biomimetic mineralizing agent to stabilize ACP, supplemented with abundant Ca 2+ and PO 4 3- for remineralization of demineralized enamel. The results showed that CMCS/ACP@PDA could effectively inhibit the adhesion of cariogenic Streptococcus mutants (S. mutants) with high bactericidal rates. In addition, the remineralization of demineralized enamel by nanohybrid was more effective after 7 days of in vitro mineralization. This study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for the use of CMCS/ACP@PDA nanohybrid materials as potential materials against WSLs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Oral inflammatory disease (OID) is among the most common oral lesions, affecting people's quality of life and even leading to oral cancer. Oral ulcers are the most common OID. However, the pain and fear caused by the localized injection of hormones hinder the clinical treatment of oral ulcers. To address this problem, soluble hyaluronic acid (HA) microneedle patches (BSP-BDP@HAMN) containing betamethasone 21-phosphate sodium (BSP) and betamethasone 17,21-dipropionate (BDP) were fabricated for potential application in oral ulcers. BSP-BDP@HAMNs had the sufficient mechanical strength to penetrate the rat tongue abdomen mucosa with an insertion depth of approximately 207 ± 3 µm. The rapidly solubilized HA microneedle carrier released BSP and BDP into the ulcer base within 3 min of entering the mucosa. Cellular assays have shown that BDP@HAMNs have wound healing-promoting and anti-inflammatory effects. Compared with topical injections and creams, BSP-BDP@HAMNs not only penetrated the ulcer surface painlessly but also worked deep in the ulcer for a long time. In conclusion, the proposed BSP-BDP@HAMN patch can improve the comfort and efficacy of oral ulcer treatment, thus providing a new prospect for oral ulcer treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Marine polysaccharide-based hydrogels have drawn much attention for diversified biomedical applications owing to their excellent (bio)physicochemical properties. In the present work, a series of marine polysaccharide-based hydrogels composed of chitosan, alginate, or fucoidan are prepared via a facile chemical cross-linking approach in an alkali/urea aqueous system. The prepared hydrogels possess tunable microporous architecture, swelling, and biodegradable properties by changing the components and proportions of marine polysaccharides. Importantly, the developed hydrogels are mechanically robust and the maximum compressive stress is up to 28.37 ± 4.63 kPa. Furthermore, the composite hydrogels exhibit excellent cytocompatibility, blood compatibility, and histocompatibility. When implanted subcutaneously in rats, the hydrogels containing fucoidan inhibit the inflammatory response of surrounding tissue. Thus, the designed composite hydrogels are promising bio-scaffolds in biomedical applications., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Conventional wound-dressing materials with structural and functional deficiencies are not effective in promoting wound healing. The development of multifunctional wound dressings is emerging as a promising strategy to accelerate blood coagulation, inhibit bacterial infection, and trigger full-thickness wound into a regenerative process. Herein, multifunctional composite sponges were developed by incorporation of traditional Chinese medicine Kangfuxin (KFX) into alginate (AG)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) via green crosslinking, electrostatic interaction, and freeze-drying methods. It is demonstrated that the AG/CMC/KFX (ACK) sponges exhibit a highly interconnected and porous structure, suitable water vapor transmittance, excellent elastic properties, antibacterial behavior, cytocompatibility, and rapid hemostasis. Further, in a rat full-thickness wounds model, the ACK sponge containing 10% KFX (ACK-10) significantly facilitates wound closure compared to the AC group and ACK sponge containing 5% and 15% KFX. Thus, the multifunctional ACK-10 composite sponge has great promise for the application of full-thickness wound healing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The cleaning and physicochemical properties on tooth root biointerfaces are pivotal for periodontal healing. Herein, this work investigated the impact of multi-treatment on the physicochemical features of tooth root surfaces and the responsive behavior of human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs). It was found that the combination of various mechanical treatments significantly affects the topographical pattern and size as well as wettability on tooth root surfaces. Furthermore, biological experiments revealed that hGF behaviors (i.e., cell adhesion, shape, spreading, arrangement, and viability) were regulated by the topography and wettability of tooth root surfaces. Also, there was no significant difference in the protein expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β in hGFs among tooth root surfaces under various treatments. This study provides new insights to efficiently remove the dental calculus and to understand the interaction between the tooth root interface and cell, which could guide the clinical operation and thereby is more conducive to periodontal recovery., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interests, (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)