Efficacy of chemical and Photoactivated disinfectants against Candida Albicans and assessment of hardness, roughness, and mass loss of acrylic denture base resin

Multiphotonic Ablation and Electro-Capacitive Effects Exhibited by Candida albicans Biofilms

This work reports the modification in the homogeneity of ablation effects with the assistance of nonlinear optical phenomena exhibited by C. albicans ATCC 10231, forming a biofilm. Equivalent optical energies with different levels of intensity were irradiated in comparative samples, and significant changes were observed. Nanosecond pulses provided by an Nd:YAG laser system at a 532 nm wavelength in a single-beam experiment were employed to explore the photodamage and the nonlinear optical transmittance. A nonlinear optical absorption coefficient -2 × 10-6 cm/W was measured in the samples studied. It is reported that multiphotonic interactions can promote more symmetric optical damage derived by faster changes in the evolution of fractional photoenergy transference. The electrochemical response of the sample was studied to further investigate the electronic dynamics dependent on electrical frequency, and an electro-capacitive behavior in the sample was identified. Fractional differential calculations were proposed to describe the thermal transport induced by nanosecond pulses in the fungi media. These results highlight the nonlinear optical effects to be considered as a base for developing photothermally activated phototechnology and high-precision photodamage in biological systems.

Influence of Contemporary Photoactivated Disinfection on the Mechanical Properties and Antimicrobial Activity of PMMA Denture Base: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

PURPOSE

The present study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effectiveness of the contemporary photoactivated disinfection methods on the mechanical features and/or antimicrobial activity of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) dentures bases.

METHODS

THE FOCUSED RESEARCH QUESTION WAS: : "What is the effect of contemporary photoactivated disinfection methods as compared to conventional disinfection protocols on the mechanical features and/or antimicrobial activity of PMMA dentures bases?". An electronic literature search was carried out by the author and a senior librarian specialized in health sciences on Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. In vitro investigations evaluating the antimicrobial and/or mechanical effects of photoactivated disinfectants as compared to conventional chemical disinfectants on the microbes formed on PMMA denture bases were included. Meta-analysis was performed for calculating the standard mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS

Four out of eight studies concluded that photoactivated disinfectants, including riboflavin-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT), hematoporphyrin-mediated PDT, poly-L-glycolic acid loaded with methylene blue, Erbium, chromium-doped yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser, erbium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser, and chitosan-mediated PDT, demonstrated a significant reduction in colony-forming unit per milliliter (CFU/mL) of exposed viable colonies of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Candida albicans (C. albicans) comparable to the conventionally used chemical disinfectants of PMMA denture bases. Contrarily, two studies concluded that the PMMA denture base colonized with C. albicans and disinfected with conventional chemical disinfectants showed the greatest anti-fungal efficaciousness. All the included studies concluded that the application of photoactivated disinfectants does not negatively impact the mechanical features of the PMMA denture bases colonized with microbes including E. coli, S. mutans, S. aureus, and C. albicans. The meta-analysis revealed statistically significant reduction in C. albicans counts (CFU/mL [Log10]) (p < 0.00001) and improvement in the flexural strength (p = 0.0002) of PMMA-based denture base after the application of conventional disinfectants, while a statistically significant improvement in the fracture strength of PMMA-based denture base was observed after the application of photoactivated disinfectants (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION

According to the systematic review (qualitative synthesis), photoactivated disinfectants demonstrated comparable mechanical features and antimicrobial activity of PMMA dentures bases to conventional chemical disinfectants suggesting their potential to be utilized as an alternative to conventional chemical disinfectants. However, the meta-analysis (quantitative synthesis) revealed that the application of conventional disinfectants demonstrated better outcomes related to antimicrobial activity and flexural strength of PMMA-based denture based.

Porcine embryo development and inactivation of microorganisms after ultraviolet-C irradiation at 228 nm

It is important to prevent contamination inside the incubator as a method of preventing microbial infections during the embryo culture. In the present study, we examined the effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) irradiation, used for microorganism inactivation, on embryo development and the growth of bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and the fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides. In the embryo irradiation experiment, we examined the effects of the plastic lid of the culture dish, irradiation distances (10, 20, and 25 cm), and different irradiation wavelengths (228 and 260 nm) during embryo culture for 7 days on the development and quality of porcine in vitro-fertilized embryos. None of the embryos cultured in dishes without plastic lids developed into blastocysts after irradiation with 228 nm UV-C. When porcine embryos were cultured in a culture dish with lids, the 228 nm UV-C irradiation decreased blastocyst formation rates of the embryos but not their quality, irrespective of the UV-C irradiation distance. Moreover, irradiation with 260 nm UV-C, even with plastic lids, had more detrimental effects on embryo development than irradiation with 228 nm UV-C. Investigation of the inactivating effects of UV-C irradiation at 228 nm and 260 nm on the growth of the bacteria and fungus showed that 260 nm UV-C reduced the viability to a greater extent than 228 nm UV-C. Moreover, the disinfection efficacy for the bacteria increased when the irradiation duration increased and the distance decreased. In conclusion, porcine embryos can develop into blastocysts without loss of quality even after continuous long-duration irradiation (7 days) with 228 nm UV-C, which can inactivate the growth of bacteria and the tested fungus; however, the development rate of the embryo is reduced.