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Objective To evaluate the effect of tablets containing lactoferrin (LF) and lactoperoxidase (LPO) on gingival health and oral health-related quality of life in healthy adults. Background Lactoferrin and LPO are host defense factors found in saliva that may contribute to oral health. Materials and methods One hundred and fifty adults were randomly assigned to the administration of high-dose tablets (LF 60 mg/d, LPO 7.8 mg/d), low-dose tablets (LF 20 mg/d, LPO 2.6 mg/d), or placebo tablets for 12 weeks. The gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PlI) were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed by the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) at baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Results One hundred and nine healthy subjects were included in the efficacy analysis. In the high-dose group, the GI was significantly reduced after 12 weeks of treatment, and the reduction in GI in the high-dose group was significant compared with the placebo group. In both the high-dose group and the low-dose group, PlI showed a significant decrease at 12 weeks compared with baseline. The total OHIP score was significantly reduced at 12 weeks in the high-dose group. In addition, the OHIP functional limitation subscale displayed significant improvement in the high-dose groups compared with the placebo group at 12 weeks. No adverse reactions or serious adverse events related to the test tablets were observed in any of participants during the study, and the incidence of adverse events unrelated to the tablets did not differ significantly among the groups. Conclusion These results suggest that intake of tablets containing LF (60 mg/d) and LPO (7.8 mg/d) can potentially improve gingival inflammation and oral health-related quality of life in healthy adults.

The oral microbiota influences health and disease states. Some gram-negative anaerobic bacteria play important roles in tissue destruction associated with periodontal disease. Lactoferrin (LF) and lactoperoxidase (LPO) are antimicrobial proteins found in saliva; however, their influence on the whole oral microbiota currently remains unknown. In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, the effects of long-term ingestion of LF and LPO-containing tablets on the microbiota of supragingival plaque and tongue coating were assessed. Forty-six older individuals ingested placebo or test tablets after every meal for 8 weeks. The relative abundance of bacterial species was assessed by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. Most of the bacterial species in supragingival plaque and tongue coating that exhibited significant decreases in the test group were gram-negative bacteria, including periodontal pathogens. Decreases in the total relative abundance of gram-negative organisms in supragingival plaque and tongue coating correlated with improvements in assessed variables related to oral health, such as oral malodor and plaque accumulation. Furthermore, there was significantly less microbiota diversity in supragingival plaque at 8 weeks in the test group than in the placebo group and low microbiota diversity correlated with improvements in assessed variables related to oral health. These results suggest that LF and LPO-containing tablets promote a shift from a highly diverse and gram-negative-dominated to a gram-positive-dominated community in the microbiota of supragingival plaque and tongue coating. This microbial shift may contribute to improvements in oral health, including oral malodor and state of the gingiva.

Metal-free initiating systems for living cationic polymerizations are desirable from the viewpoint of environmentally benign polymer synthesis. We describe here the development of a halogen-bonding-mediated and controlled cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) using 2-iodoimidazolium salts as an organocatalyst. Due to the ionic nature of the catalysts, the polymerization should be performed in CH2Cl2. The HCl-adduct of IBVE was the most suitable initiator, and the polymerization was carried out at −10 °C under the catalyst concentration of 10 mm to suppress alcohol elimination from the polymer chain. The addition of a small amount of nBu4NCl (0.02 equivalent) was effective to accomplish the controlled cationic polymerization and obtain polyIBVE, having the molecular weight distribution below 1.3.

Estrogen deficiencies associated with menopause accelerate spontaneous skin aging and stimulate the ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-induced photoaging of skin. However, food compositions with the potential to ameliorate the UV irradiation-induced acceleration of skin aging with menopause have not yet been investigated in detail. In the present study, we examined the ability of plant sterols derived from Aloe vera gel to prevent the UV irradiation-induced acceleration of skin aging in ovariectomized mice. Skin transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was significantly higher in the ovariectomy group than in the sham operation group following UVB irradiation, whereas skin elasticity was significantly lower. Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation induced greater reductions in skin hyaluronic acid levels and more severe collagen fiber damage in the derims in the ovariectomy group than in the sham group. The intake of AVGP significantly ameliorated this acceleration in skin aging by reducing the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and increasing that of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and hyaluronan synthase (HAS) in the skin. These results indicate that AVGP supplementation prevents skin damage induced by UVB irradiation and ovariectomy in part by inhibiting damage to the extracellular matrix.

Aim Lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase have antimicrobial effects against oral pathogens. This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled parallel group study tested the efficacy of a lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase-containing tablet (LF + LPO tablet) in improving the oral hygiene status of older individuals. Methods A total of 46 participants (31 nursing home residents and 15 healthy older individuals) were randomly assigned to receive either lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase-containing tablets or placebo tablets, and were asked to suck on a tablet after every meal for 8 weeks. Oral and bacteriological assessments were carried out at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Results A total of 47 participants (test group n = 20; mean age 80.4 ± 6.4 years; placebo group n = 17; mean age 85.9 ± 6.7 years) were included in the efficacy analysis. In the test group, the total number of bacteria in the tongue coating was significantly reduced at 4 and 8 weeks compared with that at baseline, and the number of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum was significantly reduced at 8 weeks. The total number of bacteria and the number of P. gingivalis in the supragingival plaque were significantly reduced at 8 weeks. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the change in the number of P. gingivalis in supragingival plaque at 8 weeks between the two groups. Conclusions Lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase-containing tablet ingestion showed antibacterial effects on periodontal bacteria present in the tongue coating and supragingival plaque, indicating that long-term ingestion could improve the oral hygiene of older individuals. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; ••: ••–••.

Novel reversible networks utilizing photodimerization of crosslinkable anthracene groups and thermal dissociation were investigated. Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization yielded well-defined copolymers with 9-anthrylmethyl methacrylate (AMMA) and other alkyl methacrylates such as methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) having different AMMA compositions. Well-controlled block copolymerization of AMMA and alkyl methacrylates was also successfully accomplished using a trithiocarbonate-terminated poly(alkyl methacrylate) macro-chain transfer agent. The anthracene-containing copolymers showed reversibility via crosslinking based on photodimerization with ultraviolet irradiation and subsequent thermal dissociation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 2302–2311

Summary The mixture of cyclic PPS oligomers (c-PPS) with more than 99% of purity, less than 15 ppm of metal content and more than 4 of repeating units was prepared by the nucleophilic substitution reaction between dichlorobenzene (DCB) and sodium sulfide (Na2S) in relatively dilute solution. Melt polymerization of the c-PPS in the absence of initiator at high temperature resulted in P(c-PPS) having high molecular weight, relatively narrow molecular weight distribution and extremely low weight loss at high temperature. Results from MALDI-TOF-MS, GPC and in-situ ESR analysis of the polymerization intermediates suggested that the polymerization of c-PPS proceeded by a sulfide exchanging polymerization. In addition, the sulfide exchanging polymerization of c-PPS in the presence of bis(4-substituted phenyl) sulfides (BPS-X) such as bis(4-aminopheny) sulfide (BPS-NH2), bis(4-carboxyphenyl) sulfide (BPS-COOH), and bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulfide (BPS-Cl) produced end-group modified and ring-opened P(c-PPS)s. Comparison of polymerization rate in the presence of BPS-X suggested that the BPS-X acted as both initiator and chain transfer agent, and the sulfide exchanging polymerization was accelerated by the addition of BPS-NH2 and BPS-COOH due to the activation of sulfide linkage through the substitution effect.